Srom  t^e  &i6rari?  of 

qprofe06or  ^antuef  (ttliffer 

in  (tttemorp  of 

3wbge  ^amuef  (giifPer  (grecftinribge 

^reeenfe^  fig 

^amuef  (tttiffer  (grecfttnribge  feon^ 

to  f^  feiBratg  of 

(Princeton  Cfeofogtcdf  ^eminarj? 

BX  4843  .S52  1834  v. 2 
Smedley,  Edward,  1788-1836, 
History  of  the  reformed 
religion  in  France 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


REFORMED     RELIGION 


IN 


FRANCE. 


BY    TKK' 

REV.  EDWARD  SMEDLEY,  M.A., 

LATE    FELLOW   OF   SIONUV    SUSSEX    COLLEGE,   CAMBUIDQE. 


IN     THREE     VOLUMES. 

VOL.  II. 


NEW-YORK  : 
pudlisiii::d   by   harper   &   brothers, 

NO.    82    CLIKF-STREET. 

18  3  4. 


CONTENTS 

OF 

THE   SECOND   VOLUME. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Preparations  for  the  Massacre — Mnrder  of  the  Admiral — Gen 
eral  Slaughter — Murder  at  the  Louvre — Of  Teligny  and  of 
La  Rochefoucault — Escape  of  the  Huguenots  from  the  Faux- 
bourg  St.  Germain — The  King's  first  Declaration — Renewal 
of  the  Massacre — The  Miraculous  Thorn — The  King  avows 
the  Massacre — False  Assertion  of  a  Huguenot  Conspiracy 
— Brutal  Treatment  of  the  Admiral's  remains — The  King's 
secret  Orders  to  his  Provincial  Governors — Massacres  in  Lyons 
and  other  Cities — Joy  at  Rome — Evidences  of  Preconcert- 
ment— Capilupi — Abjuration  of  the  Bourbon  Princes— Irjter- 
view  between  Catherine  and  Walsingham— Posthumous  Con- 
demnation of  the  Admiral — Execution  of  Cavagnes  and  Bri- 
quemaut — Contemporary  Opinions  in  England  ....      7 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Dispersion  of  the  Huguenots — Siege  of  La  Rochelle — La  None 
employed  to  negotiate — He  accepts  the  Command  of  the  Gar- 
rison— His  Motives — He  endeavours  to  promote  Peace — The 
Rochellois  Ministers  oppose  him — He  resigns  his  Command 
and  withdraws — Fruitless  Assaults — Heroism  of  the  be- 
sieged Women — Ineffectual  Attempt  at  Rehef  by  Mont- 
gomery— Disaffection  in  the  Royalist  Camp — The  Duke  of 
Anjou  elected  King  of  Poland — He  raises  the  Siege — Peace — 
Siege  of  Sancerre — Famine — Lery's  Narrative — Capitulation 
— Reluctant  Departure  of  the  King  of  Poland  to  his  Domin- 
ions—His Reception  by  the  Elector  Palatine     ....     5.3 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Demands  of  the  Huguenots  rejected — Proposed  Union  with  the 
Politiques — The  Huguenots  arm — Failure  of  an  Attempt  to 
carry  off  the  Duke  of  Alencon— Policy  of  Catherine— Hasty 


4  CONTENTS. 

flight  of  the  Court  from  St.  Germain's — Execution  of  La 
Molle  and  Coconnas — Attempt  to  implicate  the  Bourbon 
Princes — Escape  of  Conde — Capture  of  Montgomery — Death 
of  Charles  IX. — Regency  of  Catherine — Execution  of  Mont- 
gomery— Truce — Conferences  at  Milhaud — Return  of  Henry 
III.  from  Poland — Union  between  the  Huguenots  and  Poli- 
tiques — Effeminacy  and  Superstition  of  the  King — Death  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine — War  renewed — Capture  and  Exe- 
cution of  Montbrun — The  Duke  of  Alencon  treats  with  both 
the  Huguenots  and  the  Pope — Truce — Disorder  of  the  Fi- 
nances— Bold  Remonstrance  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris — Es- 
cape of  the  King  of  Navarre — Formidable  Army  of  the  Insur- 
gents-T-Peace  of  Valery — Dissatisfaction  occasioned  by  it    84 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Ambitious  Projects  of  the  Duke  of  Guise — Origin  and  Progress 
of  the  League — Memoir  of  Nicolas  David — First  States-Gen- 
eral at  Blois — The  King  declares  himself  Chief  of  the 
League — The  King  of  Navarre  appointed  Protector  of  the  Hu- 
guenots— Frivolity  of  Henry  III. — Disadvantageous  Circum- 
stances of  the  Huguenots — Beza  and  the  Ministers  oppose 
Negotiation — Peace  of  Bergerac — Ninth  National  Synod — 
Corruption  of  the  Court — The  Minions — Second  Flight  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou — Treaty  of  Nerac — Tenth  National  Synod — 
War  rashly  renewed  by  the  Huguenots — Peace  of  Fleix  122 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Troubled  State  of  France  during  the  Peace — Du  Plessis-Mor- 
nay's  Correspondence — His  Sketch  of  the  Huguenot  Re- 
sources— His  Project  for  a  general  Union  of  the  Reformed — 
Its  Failure — His  Letter  to  the  Cardinal  of  Vendome — His 
bold  Declarations  to  Henry  III. — Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Na- 
tional Synods— Death  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou — The  King  of 
Navarre  Presumptive  Heir  to  the  Crown — The  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon  opposed  to  him  by  the  Guises— Indecision  of  Henry 
III. — Manifesto  of  the  League  from  Peronne— The  King  of 
Navarre  challenges  the  Duke  of  Guise — Violent  Edict  of  Ne- 
mours— Sixtus  V.  disapproves  the  League,  but  excommuni- 
cates the  Bourbons— Their  Reclamation — War  of  the  three 
Henries — The  Huguenots  negotiate  successfully  with  Eng- 
land and  with  Germany — Conference  at  Montbelliard— Imbe- 
cility of  Henry  III. — Conferences  at  St.  Brie — Disposition  of 
the  Royal  Forces — The  Duke  of  Joyeuse  defeated  and  killed 
in  the  Battle  of  Coutras— Bravery  and  Moderation  of  the  King 
of  Navarre 154 


CONTENTS.  O 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Causes  of  Inaction  after  the  Battle  of  Coutras — Disastrous  Re- 
treat of  the  Auxiliaries — Increased  Power  of  the  League — 
Death  of  Conde — Origin  and  Character  of  the  Seize — Guise 
enters  Paris  notwithstanding  the  King's  Prohibition — The 
Barricades — Flight  of  the  King — Firmness  of  Sir  Edward 
Stafford — Edict  of  Reunion — Guise  Lieutenant-general — Sec- 
ond States-General  at  Blois — Assassination  of  the  Guises — 
Death  of  Catherine  de  Medicis — Fury  of  the  Parisians — The 
Sorbonne  renounces  Allegiance — Absurd  Charges  of  Sorcery 
against  Henry  III. — Progress  of  Rebellion — The  Duke  of 
Mayenne  nominated  Lieutenant-general  of  the  State  and 
Crown  of  France — Conduct  of  the  Huguenots — Treaty  be- 
tween the  two  Kings — Their  Interview  at  Plessis-lez-Tours  193 

CHAPTER  XVIL 

Attack  on  Tours — Battle  of  Senlis — Siege  of  Paris — Excommu- 
nication of  Henry  III. — Fanaticism  of  Jaques  Clement — En- 
couraged by  the  Leaguers — He  assassinates  Henry  III. — First 
Steps  of  Henry  IV.  on  his  Accession — The  Siege  of  Paris 
raised — The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  proclaimed  Charles  X. — 
Battle  of  Arques — Capture  of  the  Fauxbourgs  of  Paris — Views 
of  the  King  of  Spain — Conduct  of  the  Legate — Violent  Decree 
of  the  Sorbonne — Battle  of  Yvry — Blockade  of  Paris — Death 
of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon — Famine  in  Paris — Military  Pro- 
cession of  the  Clergy — The  Prince  of  Parma  relieves  Paris — 
His  subsequent  Retreat — Rise  of  the  Tiers-Parti — Council  at 
Mantes — Death  of  La  Noue — Escape  of  the  Duke  of  Guise — 
Intrigues  of  the  Seize — Murder  of  the  President  Brisson  and 
two  Counsellors  avenged  by  the  Duke  of  Mayenne — Siege  of 
Rouen — Negotiation  of  Du  Plessis  with  Queen  Elizabeth  230 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 

Fresh  Advance  of  the  Prince  of  Parma — Skirmish  at  Aumale — 
Henry  is  wounded— Brilliant  Retreat  of  the  Prince  of  Parma 
— Death  of  Mar^chal  Biron,  and  of  the  Prince  of  Parma — 
State  of  Henry's  Religious  Opinions — Meeting  of  the  States- 
General  in  Paris — The  Satyre  Menipp^e- Conferences  at 
Surenne — Excitement  in  Paris,  occasioned  by  the  Clergy — 
Henry  summons  the  Prelates  to  his  Instruction — Proposition 
by  the  King  of  Spain  opposed  by  the  Parhament — Capture  ol 
Dreux — The  Spaniards  propose  the  Duke  of  Guise  as  King — 
Mayenne  temporizes — State  of  Feeling  among  the  Huguenots 
— Instruction  and  Abjuration  of  Henry  IV 271 


HISTORY 


OF    THE 


REFORMED   RELIGION 


IN 

FRANCE. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Preparations  for  the  Massacre — Murder  of  the  Admiral — General 
Slaughter— Murders  at  the  Louvre— Of  Teligny  and  of  La  Rochefou- 
cault— Escape  of  ttie  Huguenots  from  the  Fauxbourg  St.  Germain — 
The  King's  first  Declaration — Renewal  of  ttie  Massacre— The  Mirac- 
ulous Thorn — The  King  avows  the  Massacre— False  Assertion  of  a 
Huguenot  Conspiracy — Brutal  Treatment  of  the  Admiral's  remains — 
The  King's  secret  Orders  to  his  Provincial  Governors— Massacres  in 
Lyons  and  other  Cities— Joy  at  Rome — Evidences  of  Prcconcertment 
— Capilupi — Abjuration  of  the  Bourbon  Princes — Interview  between 
Catherine  and  Walsingham— Posthumous  Condemnation  of  the  Ad- 
miral— Execution  of  CavagnesandBriquemaut — Contemporary  Opin- 
ions in  England. 

The  short  interval  of  summer  night  which  sepa- 
rated the  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew  from  its  fearful 
dawn  was  employed  in  the  disposition  of  troops  at 
the  most  opportune  posts  of  the  capital :  and  it 
seems  highly  probable  that  during  those  few 
hours  of  guilty  preparation  various  and  perhaps 
contradictory  orders  were  issued  from  the  Louvre. 
It  is  little  our  intention  however  to  renew  the 
obscure  and  unsatisfactory  inquiry  which  has  so 
frecquently  been  agitated,  as  to  the  secret  councils 
which  immediately  foreran  the  impending  Mas- 
sacre.    To   what  extent  the  king  vacillated    as 


8  PREPARATIONS   FOR  THE  [cH.  XI. 

the  appointed  moment  drew  near ;  whether  he  ac- 
tively gave  instructions,  or  yielded  no  more  than 
passive  assent ;  how  far  the  great  crime,  which 
it  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted  had  long  occupied 
his  thoughts,  awakened  terror  and  remorse  as  he 
approached  its  brink  :  whether  he  now  repented  him 
of  the  evil,  and  would  have  turned  aside  from  it,  had 
he  not  been  goaded  on  by  the  threats,  the  persua- 
sions, or  the  deceits  of  Catherine  and  his  brother  of 
Anjou  ;  are  questions,  for  the  complete  solution  of 
which  history  must  be  searched  in  vain.  The  facts 
of  the  enormous  wickedness  which  was  committed 
are  distinctly  in  view ;  but  a  thick  darkness  enve- 
lopes the  proportions  of  infamy  duly  assignable  to 
its  separate  contrivers. 

In  like  manner,  we  shall  turn  from  the  sickening 
episode  of  horror  upon  which  we  are  reluctantly 
compelled  to  enter,  as  soon  as  its  intimate  and 
necessary  connexion  with  our  main  story  will  per- 
mit us  to  escape.  Its  details  have  been  often  and 
amply  given  in  many  other  narratives  ;  the  contem- 
plation of  them  is  eminently  painful  to  any  but  a 
diseased  appetite,  thirsting  for  powerful  excitement, 
and  careless  of  the  source,  however  foul,  from 
which  it  may  be  derived.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten 
that  too  elaborate  a  portraiture  of  crime  and  suffer- 
ing, while  it  evinces  somewhat  of  moral  distortion 
in  the  mind  of  the  artist,  betrays  also  an  ignorance 
of  the  just  rules  of  his  art.  If  it  be  his  object  to 
create  vivid  interest,  and  keenly  to  arouse  imagina- 
tion, he  may  direct  his  fullest  powers  of  execu- 
tion to  some  prominent  group ;  but  he  must  sedu- 
lously refrain  from  weakening  and  perplexing  his 
design  by  a  confused  multitude  of  detached  figures. 

Day  had  not  yet  broken,  when  all  Paris  was 
awakened  by  the  clang  of  the  tocsin  of  St.  Ger- 
main de  I'Auxerrois,  the  signal  at  which  it  had  been 
preconcerted  that  the  troops  should  be  on  the  alert. 
Many  of  the  Huguenots  who  lodged  in  the  neigh- 


A.  D.  1572. j     MASSACRE  OF  ST.   BARTHOLOMEW.         9 

bourhood  sprang  from  their  beds  :  and  hastening  to 
the  palace,  inquired  the  cause  of  this  unexpected 
and  untimely  sound ;  and  to  what  purpose  the  throng 
of  armed  men  was  directed,  whom  they  saw  moving 
rapidly  and  tumultuously,  in  many  directions,  by 
torch-light.  They  were  at  first  carelessly  answered 
that  a  court  spectacle  was  in  preparation,  and  their 
further  questions  were  rebutted  with  insolence, 
which  led  to  blows.  Meantime  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
accompanied  by  his  uncle  D'Aumale,*  and  the  Bas- 
tard of  Angouleme,  advanced  towards  the  Hotel  of 
Coligny,  where  Cosseins,  warned  of  their  approach, 
had  made  fit  dispositions  for  attack.  The  wounded 
admiral  had  been  roused  from  a  feverish  sleep  by 
the  din  of  the  alarm  bell ;  but  confident  in  the  re- 
cent friendly  professions  of  the  king,  and  in  the 
fidelity  of  the  royal  guard  by  which  he  deemed 
himself  to  be  protected,!  he  at  first  thought  that 
some  partial  tumult  had  been  raised  by  the  Guisards, 
which  would  speedily  be  suppressed.  As  the  noise 
increased  and  drew  nearer,  and  as  the  report  of 
firearms  was  heard  in  his  own  court-yard,  he  tardily 
and  reluctantly  admitted  a  suspicion  of  the  truth  ; 
and  rising  from  his  bed,  notwithstanding  the  weak- 
ness which  compelled  him  to  lean  for  support  against 
the  wall  of  his  chamber,  he  addressed  himself 
to  prayer,  in  company  with  his  chaplain  Merlin,  and 
his  few  other  attendants. |     One  of  his  servants, 

*  riaude  de  Lorraine  Duke  of  Aum&le,  third  son  of  Claude  Duke  of 
Guise,  grandfather  of  Henry. 

t  Jussit  cubictilarium  iectinn,  (Eilivm  cnnscendere,  ad  inclamandos 
mihtespriEsiitiarios  a  llegedatos,  iithil  vnnvs  scilicet  cogitans  quam 
ab  illi-i  vim  sibi  fieri.  Hn^iniot.is  et  Lullieranis  Gnlliir.  qum  acciderint, 
p.  50,  a  Lalin  Dialogue  published  at  Orange  in  1573,  five  months  after 
the  Massacre;  and  reprinted  afterward  as  the  first  of  the  two  Dia- 
logues in  Itie  Revtil-ilalni  mix  Fraticnis,  piihljshrd  in  1571,  hoih  in 
Latin  and  Trench,  under  the  assiinicd  name  of  Euschius  I'hiladolphus  ; 
and  variously  attributed  to  Bc7,a,  to  Doneau,  and  to  Itarnaud.  I.e  Longi 
who  notices  both  these  Works  (the  Rfvcil-malin  at  considerable 
length,  I8I52),  does  not  appear  lo  have  been  aware  of  their  identity. 

1  Lecto  consurgil,  et,  veslenoclvrnd  svmptd,  in  pedes  ad  preces  fact- 
endas  erigilur,  parieti  innixus.    Dc  Thou,  lii.  7. 


10  THE  ADMIRAL  COLIGNY  ATTACKED         [CH.  XI. 

Labonne,  summoned  by  a  loud  knocking  at  the  outer 
gates,  had  already  descended  with  the  keys ;  and 
when  Cosseins  demanded  entrance  in  the  king's 
name,  he  opened  them  unhesitatingly  and  without 
apprehension.  The  daggers  of  the  assassins,  as 
they  rushed  in,  prostrated  him  lifeless  at  the  thresh- 
old ;  and  the  five  Swiss,  warned  by  his  fate,  ran 
into  the  house,  closed  the  door,  and  raised  a  hasty 
barricade  with  such  furniture  as  they  found  at  hand ; 
one  of  their  number,  however,  fell  beneath  the  shot 
which  had  excited  the  admiral's  alarm,  and  the  frail 
barrier  which  the  others  had  constructed  soon  gave 
way  under  the  blows  of  the  assailants. 

As  their  steps  were  heard  ascending  the  stair- 
case, Coligny,  no  longer  doubtful  of  the  event, 
turned,  with  an  unaltered  countenance,  to  his  friends, 
and  urgently  warned  them  to  consult  their  own 
safety.  "  For  myself,"  he  added,  "  escape  is  impos- 
sible ;  and,  happily,  I  am  well  prepared  for  the  death 
which  1  have  long  anticipated.  Human  aid  can  no 
longer  extricate  me  :  but  you  need  not  be  involved 
in  my  calamity,  neither  must  your  wives  hereafter 
curse  me  as  the  author  of  their  widowhood."  The 
roof  afforded  them  hope  of  secure  retreat ;  and  over 
this  they  dispersed  themselves,  after  having  broken 
through  the  tiling.*  The  assassins,  five  in  number, 
armed  in  shirts  of  mail,  had  now  gained  the  door  of 
the  apartment.  The  first  who  entered  was  a  Ger- 
man named  Besme,  nurtured  from  his  childhood  in 
the  family  of  the  Duke  of  Guise.  Coligny,  in  his 
night-dress,  calmly  awaited  their  onset ;  and  when 
asked  by  Besme,  in  a  stern  and  threatening  voice, 
whether  he  were  the  admiral,  replied  at  once  in  the 
affirmative  ;  pointed  to  his  gray  hairs  as  demanding 

*  The  escape  of  Ihe  Chaplain  Merlin  was  attended  with  very  extra- 
onliimry  circumstancos  ;  "  ho  Icaiit  out  of  a  window  an<l  hid  himself  in 
u  Imyloll,  where  a  hen  came  anil  lay  iin  es^  tiy  luin  tlirrc  days  succes- 
sively, Willi  which  he  was  sustained  till  the  Lord  opened  a  door  for  him 
to  get  out  of  this  bloody  city."  Quick  Synodicon.  \.  125. 


A.  D.  1572.]  AND    MURDKRED.  11 

reverence  from  youth ;  and  added  that,  at  the  utmost, 
his  life  could  be  shortened  but  a  little  space.  The 
murderer,  unmoved  by  this  calm  and  dauntless 
bearing,  passed  his  sword  through  the  veteran's 
body,*  and  after  withdrawing  it,  inflicted  a  deep  gash 
across  his  face  ;  while  his  associates  despatched 
him  with  repeated  blows.  The  sole  complaint  which 
fell  from  Coligny's  lips  during  his  agony,  was  a  regret 
that  he  should  perish  by  the  hand  of  a  menial ;  and  the 
constancy  of  his  demeanour  extorted  a  confession 
from  one  of  those  who  assisted  in  the  deed  of 
blood  (deeds  with  which  he  had  long  been  well 
acquainted),  that  he  had  never  before  seen  any  one 
encounter  a  sudden  and  violent  death  with  so  much 
firmness.f 

'  Quanqitam  Sartabussius  hanc  sibi  laudem,  tribuit.  Diatog-jii,  p. 
60.  Sarlabous  was  Governor  of  Havre.  Besme,  who  married  a  bastanl 
daughter  or  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  was  afterward  talien  prisoner  by 
the  Huguenots  in  Guyenne  and  killed  in  an  attempt  to  escape  from  con- 
finement. Brantdme,  Disr.ours  l.wix.  lorn.  vi.  p.  305.  A  inuth  more 
detailed  account  of  his  closing  adventures  is  given  by  Amirault  in  his 
Vie  de  Francois  Seigneur  de  La  None.  He  calls  Besme  N.  Draiiouitz, 
and  he  mentions  the  great  and  animated  interest  which  the  safety  of  the 
scoundrel  (ce  schelme)  excited.  The  Rochellois  proposed  a  voluntary 
subscription  for  his  purchase,  thai  they  might  put  him  to  death  uiidor 
exquisite  torments ;  but  they  were  deterred  hy  the  fear  of  reprisals. 
The  court,  on  the  other  hand,  offered  a  large  ransom  for  his  deliverance. 
The  Duke  of  Guise,  and  even  the  king,  wrote  several  times  to  La  None 
in  his  behalf;  and  it  seems  probable  that  his  escape  was  permitted,  q/in 
(Vavoir  lieu  de  le  luer,  p  168.  De  Thou,.  Ix.  19,  writes  to  the  same 
purpose,  although  more  briefly. 

The  tune  andepithets  which,  in  compliance  with  the  original  author- 
ities, we  have  employed  concerning  the  admiral,  perhaps  imply  a  more 
advanced  age  than  he  had  really  attained  :  he  was  not  more  than  fifty- 
six  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  murder. 

t  Alii  scribuni  Cotitiio  etiam  in  morte  indignahundn  h(BC  verba  exci- 
disse,  "■  Sitius  si  viri  nee  lixm  manu  morerer  '."  Atiniiis  certe,  units  ex 
percussoribiis,  iia  ut  scripsi  meinnrabai,  qui  et  hoc  addehat.  nunquam 
vidisse  se  homniem  tarn  prmsenti  pcricnlo  tantd  mnstanttd  irinr/.cm 
pertulisse.  De  Thou.  lii.  7.  A  writer,  who,  under  the  name  of  Ernest 
Varainund,  in  1573,  printed  twice  at  Edinburgh,  in  Latin,  once  at  Basle, 
in  French,  and  once  at  Striveling  (Stirling)  in  Scotland,  A  true  and 
plain  Report  of  the  furious  outrages  in  France,  and  the  humble  and 
shameful  slaughter  of  Chaftillnn  the  Admiral,  states  that  .\tin,  who 
made  this  report,  was  a  "  Picarde,  a  retainer  and  familiar  of  the  Duka 
d'Aumal,  one  that  a  few  years  before  sought  to  murder  D'.\ndelot  by 
treason."  Iv.    See  also  Mimotres  de  I'cslat  de  France,  S,  c.  i.  289. 


12  MASSACRE  OF  ADMIRAL  COLIGNY.  [cH.  XI. 

Scarcely  had  the  admiral  ceased  to  breathe,  when 
the  voice  of  Guise  was  heard  from  below,  impa- 
tiently demanding  if  all  were  over  1  "All  is  over," 
replied  Besme,  and  he  was  answered  by  Guise,  that 
the  Sieur  d'Ahgouleme  must  see  in  order  to  believe, 
and.  that  the  body  must  be  thrown  down  for  their 
inspection.  The  yet  bleeding  victim  was  accord- 
ingly forced  through  a  window*  into  the  court-yard ; 
and  D'Angouleme,  after  wiping  the  gore  from  its 
face,  and  thus  satisfying  his  brutal  curiosity,  spurned 
the  corpse  with  his  foot  ;t  acknowledged  that  it  was 
indeed  his  enemy ;  and  urging  his  followers  to  bring 
to  a  full  end  a  course  thus  happily  begun,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  king's  command,^  hastened  onward 
to  fresh  carnage. 

Meantime,  at  a  new  signal  from  the  great  bell  of 
the  Louvre  itself,  the  work  of  general  slaughter  had 
commenced  in  every  street  near  the  palace  inhab- 
ited by  Huguenots.  Besides  the  military,  to  whom 
the  Duke  of  Guise  had  given  orders,  the  municipal 
police,  who  had  received  similar  instructions   from 


A  most  interesting  account  of  tlie  admiral's  daily  course  of  life 
since  the  peace,  too  long  for  transcription  here,  is  given  in  Arthur 
Goulding's  rare  translation,  TAe  Lt(fr  of  tke  most  Godly,  Valiant,  and 
Noble  Captainc,  and  maiiitaincr  of  I'lie  trav  Christian  Religion  in 
Fraiaicc,  Jasper  Coliavie  Shatilion.  Admirall  of  Fraunce.  London,  1576. 

*  Capilupi  introduces  a  horrible  incident, /V»/fZ(ce  mo?i  esscndo  ancor 
morto  s'aiijiiirlio  ad  iina  parte  dcllajineslra.  hn  Strafngcma,  34.  So 
also  I5ranl6nie,  Discoun  Ixxix.  torn.  vi.  p.  30i>,  and  Oe  Serres,  Co7n- 
metilaircs  iv.  33.  Uut  a  yet  more  jiarticular  aicount  has  been  given  by 
Mr.  .Sharon  Turner,  in  one  of  his  Txlracls  Ooni  a  German  Narrative  of 
the  Massacre,  by  an  oye-wilncss,  recenlly  found  in  the  episcopal  Ar- 
<:hives  at  Wiener  Neusiadt  in  Austria.  Tt  is  there  stated,  that  the  four 
Swiss  who  endeavoured  to  tlirow  Coligny  out  of  a  window,  cut  him  sev- 
eral limes  in  the  legs  with  their  halberds  during  the  struggle;  that  a 
French  soldier  discharged  an  aniucbuse  into  his  inoulh,  nevertheless, 
that  "  he  still  moved  when  he  was  tossed  out."  Reign  of  Elizabeth,  ch. 
XXX.  p.  320.  The  continuator  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh's  Hist,  nf  Eng- 
land inistaUenly  says,  that  BAiiies  (Besme)  "  threw  his  (Coligny's) 
Jiead  from  Iho  window."     Vol.  iii.  p.  £24. 

t  De'l'liou,  lii.7.  This  ferocious  act  is  .attributed  by  others  to  the 
Duke  of  Guise.    iUm.  del'cstat,  i.  28'J.    De  Serres,  nt  sup. 

i  Eia.  cnmmililnnes,  feliciter  inchoata  perseqxiamxir  '.  ita  Rexjubet. 
Do  Thou,  III  sup. 


A.  D.  1572.J      Tin;   MARKCHAL  UE  TAVANNES.  13 

the  provost  of  the  mercJmnts,  were  assembled  at  tlie 
Hotel  de  Ville ;  and,  lest  in  the  yet  uncertain  twi- 
light, any  fatal  mistake  might  array  the  assassins 
against  each  other,  every  man  destined  for  the  bloody 
service  wrapped  a  white  scarf  round  his  left  arm, 
and  placed  a  cross  of  the  same  colour  in  his  hat,  as 
badges  which  might  ensure  recognition  from  his 
comrades.*  In  order  that  there  might  not  be  any 
want  of  sufRcient  instruments,  pains  were  taken  to 
inflame  the  fury  of  the  populace,  by  dark  whispers 
of  a  conspiracy  among  the  Reformed ;  by  using  the 
king's  name  as  authority  for  their  extermination  ;  by 
offering  pillage  as  a  lure  to  the  mercenary  ;  and  by 
exciting  a  belief  among  the  timid,  that  a  struggle 
had  arisen  in  which  the  safety  of  every  Roman  Cath- 
olic would  be  compromised,  if  he  suffered  a  single 
Huguenot  to  escape.  Many  of  the  leading  courtiers 
were  employed  in  disseminating  these  false  rumours, 
and,  anjong  them,  few  were  more  active  than  the 
Marechal  de  Tavannes.  Of  the  equivocal  fidelity  of 
that  officer,  in  an  earUer  stage  of  these  religious 
contests,  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  :t 
but  he  had  now  become  a  fiery  zealot  in  the  cause 
which  he  no  longer  doubted  would  predominate  ;  and 
mucli,  both  of  guilt  in  advising  the  massacre,  and  of 
unmeasured  barbarity  during  its  execution,  are  too 
credibly  ascribed  to  him  by  contemporaries.  "  On 
that  morning,"  says  Brant6me,  "  he  showed  great 
cruelty ;  riding  through  the  streets  and  calling  to 
the  rabble,  '  Bleed  !  bleed !  the  doctors  tell  us  that 
blood-letting  is  not  less  healthy  in  August  than  in 
May.'  "  One  Huguenot,  a  gentleman  of  birth  and 
valour,  whose  pen  as  well  as  his  sword  had  been 
useful  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  after  receiving  six  or 
seven  wounds,  clasped  the  knees  of  Tavannes  and 
implored  mercy.     "  He  was  the  only  one  of  the  poor 


-  PeTliou,  lii.  9.    Daviln,  C.  torn.  i.  p.  294. 
t  Vol.  i.  J).  273. 

Vol,.  II.— B 


14  MASSACRE  IN   THE  LOUVRE.  [CH.  XI. 

wretches  whom  he  spared,"  continues  the  narrator  ; 
and  he  leaves  it  in  doubt,  whether  the  motive  which 
produced  this  solitary  act  of  mercy  were  genuine 
compassion,  or  a  feeling  that  it  would  derogate  from 
his  honour  to  kill  a  disabled  gentleman  prostrate  at 
his  feet.* 

The  Louvre  itself  was  among  the  earliest  scenes  of 
carnage  ;  and  many  of  those  attendants  whom  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  had  been 
treacherously  advised   to  assemble  about  their  per- 
sons, as  a  security  against  any  evil  project  of  the 
Guises,  having  been  surprised  and  disarmed  in  their 
chambers,  were  led,  one  by  one,f  into  the   palace- 
court,  and  put  to  death  in  cold  blood  under  the  very 
eye  of  the  king.J     Even  the  apartment  of  the  royal 
bride   was   polluted  with  blood.     The  fears  of  Mar- 
garet, according  to  her  own  most  vivid  relation,  had 
been  excited,  although  not  directed  to  any  definite 
object,  by  tlie  unusual  emotion  which  her  sister  of 
Lorraine  betrayed  in  parting  from  her  on  the  prece- 
ding evening ;  and  by  the  anxiety  with  which  Cathe- 
rine   suppressed  some    attempted   communication. 
The  night  was  afterward   passed   without  repose  ; 
for,  according  to  the  coarse  and  uncouth  fashion  of 
the  times,  her  bed  was  surrounded  by  a  large  retinue 
of  Huguenot  gentlemen,  thirty  or  forty  in  number, 
who   were  concerting  with  her  husband  an  appeal 
against  the  Duke  of  Guise,  which  they  resolved  to 
offer   to   the   throne  on  the  following  morning. — 
When  Henry  arose,  at  an  early  hour,  to  divert  him- 
self in  the  tennis-court  till  the  king  should  be  ready 
to  give  audience,  his  bride,  overcome  by  fatigue  and 
■watching,  fell  into  a  short  slumber,  from  which  she 

*  Brantdme,  Discours  Ixxii.  5.  torn.  vi.  p.  477. 

t  Ad  n>to,  ad  vno.  Davila  v.  torn.  i.  p.  295.  "  They  were  comprHed 
to  go  out  one  after  another  by  a  little  door,  before  which  they  found  a 
great  number  of  satellitpis,  armed  with  halberts,  who  assassinated  the 
Navarrcse  as  they  came  out."  German  Narrative,  cited  by  Mr.  Sharon 
Turner.     Reign  nf  Elitabct/i,  th  x.xx.  p.  319. 

t  De  Sorres,  iv.  31.    Mem.  de  Veatal,  i.  290.    Dialogus,  p.  61. 


A.  D.  1572.]  MURDER  OF  TELIGNT.  15 

was  awakened  by  loud  cries  of  "  Navarre !  Na- 
varre !"  and  a  hurried  knocking  at  the  chamber-door. 
Her  attendant,  thinking  that  the  king  was  returned, 
undrew  the  bolt ;  when  a  ghastly  figure,  bleeding 
from  recent  wounds,  and  closely  pursued  by  four  ar- 
chers of  the  Royal  Guard,  rushed  in  and  sought  a 
hiding-place.  Not  knowing  whether  her  own  life  or 
that  of  the  stranger  were  in  jeopardy,  the  Princess 
jumped  from  bed,  and  found  herself  immediately 
clasped  in  the  arms  of  the  terrified  suppliant.  Her 
shrieks  summoned  the  Captain  of  the  Guard,  who, 
reeking  as  he  was  from  the  continued  slaughter  of 
other  victims  below,  nevertheless  found  a  brutal 
amusement  in  the  alnrm  and  embarrassment  of  the 
Drincess  ;  and  broke  into  a  rude  laugh,  while  he  re- 
juked  the  archers  for  their  intrusion.  Margaret, 
laving  first  clianged  her  night-dress,  besmeared 
■with  blood  in  the  past  struggle,  entreated  that  she 
might  be  conveyed  to  her  sister's  apartment ;  and  as 
she  passed  through  the  short  corridor  which  sepa- 
rated their  chambers,  a  second  Huguenot,  attempt- 
ing flight  in  vain,  was  pierced  close  to  her  side  by  a 
halberd  ;  while  she  fell  almost  senseless  with  terror 
into  the  arms  of  her  escort.* 

As  the  tumult  rolled  onward  to  more  distant  quar- 
ters of  the  city,  scarcely  a  chance  of  escape  re- 
mained to  any  of  the  devoted  sect ;  and  several  of 
the  persons  most  distinguished  in  our  former  narra- 
tive fell  early  sacrifices.  The  gallant  and  youthful 
Teligny,  for  awhile  might  indulge  some  hope  of 
safety ;  he  had  gained  the  house-top,  and  although 
seen  and  recognised  by  many  of  the  assassins  ruth- 
lessly engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  others,  so  much 
was  he  beloved  that  no  man's  hand  appeared  raised 
for  his  destruction,  till  he  was  found  and  despatched 
by  one  unacquainted  with  his  person.f    The  fate  of 


*  M/tnoircs  de  la  Reine  Marguerilt.    Liv.  i.  75. 
t  De  Thou.  lii.  7.    Dialosus,  p.  63. 


16  MU.1DF.R  OF  LA  ROCIIEFOUCAULT.         [cH.  XF. 

La  Roehefoucault,  another,  and  not  less  illustrious 
nobleman,  was  attended  with   circumstances  pecu- 
liarly affecting;  and  his   was  the   sole  instance  in 
which  Charles  appears  to  have  mar.ifested  any  touch 
of  compassion,  any  inclination  to  relent.     One  other 
life,  indeed,  he  took  special  pains  to  preserve,  but  in 
so  doing  he  was  chiefly  actuated  by  selfishness  ;  and 
when  he  enjoined  Ambrose  Pare,  his  body-surgeon, 
not  to  quit  the  garde-robe,  to  which  he  had  been 
summoned,  till  he  received  express  permission,  he 
well  knew  that  his  own  health  required  the  period- 
ical assistance  of  that  attendant's  unrivalled  skill.* — 
In  the  gay  and  brilliant  society  of  La  Roehefoucault, 
the  King  professed  to  find  extraordinary  attraction ; 
and  he   granted  him,  although    a  Huguenot,  unre- 
served access  to  his  privacy.     It  was  near  midnight,f 
on  the  eve  of  the  massacre,  that    this  seeming  fa- 
vourite prepared  to  retire  from  the  palace,  after  many 
hours  spent  in  careless  hilarity.     More  than  once 
did  the  King  urge  his  stay,  that  they  might  trifle,  as 
he  said,  through  the  remainder  of  the  night ;  or  to 
obviate  all   difficulty,   the  count,  if  he    so  pleased, 
might  be   lodged,  even  in  the  royal  chamber.     But 
La   Roehefoucault  pleaded  weariness  and   v/ant  of 
sleep ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  took  leave  of 
his    perfidious    friend  and    sovereign    in    sportive 
words,  which  implied  the  freedom  and  familiarity  of 
their  intercourse.      Even  when  he  was  afterward 
roused  from  sleep  by  the  morning  tumult  at  his  door, 
no  n)isgiving  crossed  his  mind  ;  he  imagined  that  the 
king  had  followed  him  to  inflict  one  of  those  prac- 
tical jokes  which  suited  the  boisterous  taste  both  of 
the  times  and  of  the  individual  ;  and  hastily  throw- 
ing on  his  clothes,  he    assured   the  masked   band, 
winch  he  did  not  scruple  to  admit,  and  among  whom 

♦  BrantOine.    Discours.  Ixxxviii.  torn  vii.  p.  204,  and  the  note. 
t  In  multam  noctern,  nempe  undecimam,  et  co  serius.     Dialogus, 
p.  62. 


A.  D.    1572.]       ATTACK  ON  ST.  GERMAIN.  17 

he  supposed  Charles  to  be  included,  that  he  was  not 
taken  at  advantage,  that  they  could  not  now  feel 
privileged  to  flog  him,  for  he  was  already  up  and 
dressed.  The  reply  was  a  thrust  of  the  sword  by 
one  of  the  disguised  company,  wliich  prostrated  the 
unsuspicious  victim  at  the  feet  of  his  murderers.* 

A  considerable  number  of  the  Reformed,  among 
whom  were  the  Vidame  de  Chartres,  and  Gabriel, 
Count  of  Montgonierj^  more  fortunate  or  more 
provident  than  their  brethren,  had  taken  up  their 
abode  southward  from  the  river,  in  the  Fauxbourg 
St.  Germain  ;  some  from  inability  to  procure  lodgings 
nearer  the  court,  others  from  discreet  reluctance 
to  trust  themselves  within  its  boundary.  A  thou- 
sand armed  men  had  been  allotted  for  the  attack  on 
this  remoter  body  ;  and,  but  for  the  negligence  and 
tardiness  of  the  officers  employed  on  the  service, 
its  destruction  must  have  been  certain.  The  de- 
tachment did  not  move  till  many  hours  after  the 
appointed  time  ;  and,  in  the  interval,  an  unknown 
person,  who  we  are  told  was  never  afterward  seen 
or  recognised!  (so  perilous  at  that  season  was  a 
work  of  mercy),  crossing  the  river,  warned  Mont- 
gomery and  his  friends  of  the  enormities  which  had 
already  been  perpetrated  williin  the  city.  The  first 
impulse  of  those  brave  and  loyal  gentlemen,  when 
they  received  the  intelligence,  was  to  hasten  to  the 

•  The  catastrophe  ofLa  Rochefoucault  is  related  at  considerable  length, 
and  with  much  interest  in  the  Mcmoires  of  the  Sieur  de  Mergey,  a  gen- 
tleiriaii  attached  to  his  service,  who  overheard  the  king's  last  conversa- 
tion, an<l  his  master's  parting  words,  '^  Adieu,  man  petit  ?iiaitre :'' 
These  particulars,  and  Mergey's  own  great  peril  and  escape,  have  been 
recently  detailed  in  the  narrative  of  tin;  St.  Bartholomew,  given  In  the 
first  of  the  two  volumes,  entitled,  Faris  and  its  Historical  Scene.i,  pub- 
lished by  the  Soiiely  for  the  Uiffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  ;  in  which 
work  many  very  striking  anecdotes  coiinected  with  tiiat  day  of  blood 
have  been  gathered  with  much  diligence  from  numerous  sources.  Da- 
vila  V.  torn.  i.  p.  295.  has  shown  himself  altogether  ignorant  of  La  Ro- 
chefoucault's  real  history, 
t  Quidam  quern  nemo  postea  nee  vidit  v.ec  Jiovit.    Dialogus,  p.  65. 

B2 


18  THE    KING    FIRES    AT  [ciI.  XI. 

assistance  of  their  kin^,  who,  they  doubted  not,  was 
assailed  by  the  Guisards,  and  to  form  themselves 
into  a  body-guard  for  the  defence  of  his  person. 
While  they  were  debating  upon  this  measure,  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  having  learned  that  the  attack  upon 
the  Fauxbourg  St.  Germain  had  not  yet  begun,  and 
impatient  of  farther  delay,  led  a  hundred  archers  to 
the  river,  with  tlie  intention  of  immediately  cross- 
ing; but  the  keys  which  he  had  brought  with  him 
to  the  gate  were  those  of  another  barrier.     While 
the  mistake  was  being  rectified,  broad  day  arose  ; 
and  the  Huguenots,  distinctly  observing  the  prepara- 
tions made  for  the  transport  of  soldiers  in  boats, 
and  assailed  by  the  discharge  of  a  piece  of  ordnance 
from  the  opposite  bank,  now  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  their  danger  and  of  the  inutility  of  resistance, 
betook  themselves  to  a  speedy  flight,  and  gained 
sufficient  time  to  elude  the  pursuit  of  Guise.     It  was 
on  that  occasion  that  Charles  is  said,  by  more  than 
one  contemporary  authority,  to  have  endeavoured 
to  take  a  personal  share  in  the  massacre.     "  More- 
over, I  was  told,"  says  the  author  of  the  Dialogue, 
which  we  have  often  cited,  "  that  the  king  himself, 
snatching  up  a  fowling-piece,  with  one  of  his  usual 
imprecations  of  God's  name,  cried  out,  '  We  must 
shoot  them,  they  are  running  away  !'  "*    Brantome 
writes  to  the  same  purpose,  with  the  addition,  that 
although  Charles  fired  several  shots  from  one  of  the 
windows  of  the  Louvre,  which  overlooked  the  Faux- 
bourg SH.  Germain,  they  were  of  no  avail,  for  the 
arquebuse  would  not  carry  far  enough.f     If  an  an- 
ecdote, related  on  modern  authority,  can  be  trusted, 
the  fact  is  placed  beyond  all  doubt.     It  is  said,  that 
the  Marechal  de  Tesse  often  used  to  state,  that  he 
had  conversed  in  his  youth  with  the  very  gentleman 


*  p.  66. 

t  Discours.  Ixxxviii.  torn.  vii.  \>.  204. 


A.  D.    1572.]  THE    HUGUENOTS.  19 

of  the  Royal  Guard  who  had  loaded  the  king's  car- 
bine.* 

The  Duke  of  Guise  returned  from  his  useless  pur- 
suit to  the  city,  where  the  Royal  Guards,  continuing 
to  select  as  their  own  peculiar  quarry  all  Huguenots 
of  mark  and  nobility,  abandoned  others  of  less  note 
as  a  prey  to  the  rabble. f  Tiie  first  blood  had  been 
shed  before  dawn,  and  evening  began  to  fallj  before 
any  restraint  was  imposed  even  -upon  the  furious 
passions  which  had  been  unbridled  among  the  popu- 
lace. 

Proclamation  was  then  made  by  sound  of  trumpet, 
that  all  the  citizens  on  pain  of  death  should  with- 
draw into  their  houses,  and  that  no  one  should  dare 
to  appear  in  the  streets  except  the  militai-y  and  the 
police.  Murder  and  pillage  became  more  regularlj'^ 
organized,  but  were  by  no  means  discontinued  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  mob.^  About  two  thousand 
Huguenots  are  believed  to  have  been  slain  in  Paris 
during  the  first  day  of  massacre, ||  and  their  bodies, 
after  having  been  stripped,  were  left  as  they  fell. 
The  king,  with  his  whole  court,  including  Catherine 
and  the  ladies  of  her  train,  walked  round  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  palace  to  glut  their  eyes  with  a 
close  and  minute  view  of  the  appalling  spectacle; 
and  among  the  many  abominations  of  the  time, 
which  it  is  the  painful  task  of  the  historian  to  re- 
cord, none  is  more  odious,  more  loathsome,  and 
more  disgusting,  than  the  frontless  immodesty,  and 
stony  hardness  of  heart,  which  degraded   women 


*  Note  h.  h.  Uenriadf,  Phant.  II.  VoHairc,  in  his  Flistorical  Writings, 
forthe  most  part  sacrificod  liiut  to  antithesis  ;  and  none  of  his  works  of 
that  class  more  abounds  in  petty  inaccuracies  than  the  Kssai  sut  les 
Guerres  Civiles  de  France,  appended  to  the  Henriade,  in  which  he  gives 
an  account  of  the  St.  Bartholomew. 

t  Peculiari  hncvebui  pe-nso  illis  aftributn.     De  Thou  lii.  7. 

i  Sub  vespcrnm.  Do  Tliou  lii.  9.  Circiter  quintam  jiomeridianum 
Dialo^u.i,  p.  fi8. 

^  Mezerav,  torn.  iii.  p.  1295.     Ed.  fol.  1685. 

II  De  Tho'u,  lii.  0. 


20  THE    king's  [cH.   XI. 

of  the  loftiest  birth  and  station  during  this  most  ex- 
ecrable promenade.* 

At  the  close  of  this  day's  carnage,  the  spirit  of 
Charles  recoiled  from  the  obloquy  which  he  foresaw 
must  accompany  his  unparalleled  crime  ;  and  not 
less  cunning  than  he  had  been  cruel,  he  sought  es- 
cape at  the  expense  of  his  agents.  He  had  already 
announced  the  attempt  upon  the  admiral's  life,  in  a 
circular  despatch  to  his  Provincial  governors ;  and 
as  he  was  probably  innocent  of  participation  in  that 
foul  act,  he  had  represented  its  attendant  circum- 
stances with  truth. t  On  the  very  night  of  the  mas- 
sacre, he  again  forwarded  couriers  to  the  chief 
towns  throughout  the  kingdom,  but  the  letters  which 
he  then  issued  were  designed  to  propagate  false- 
hood. The  king  declared  to  his  lieutenants,  that 
the  members  of  the  house  of  Guise  and  their  ad- 
herents, having  received  confident  assurance  that 
the  friends  of  the  admiral  designed  to  inflict  severe 
reprisals  for  the  outrage  which  he  had  suffered,  rose 
during  the  past  night,  and  between  one  party  and 
the  other  there  ensued  a  great  and  lamentable  se- 
dition. The  Guisards  overpowered  the  sentinels 
who  had  been  provided  for  the  security  of  the  ad- 
miral's per.>on,  put  him  and  many  of  his  retinue  to 
the  sword ;  and  massacred  others  in  different  parts 
of  the  city.  So  furious  was  this  tumult,  continued 
the  king,  that  it  was  beyond  his  ability  to  restrain  it 
as  he  desired,  for  all  his  guards  and  otlier  disposable 
forces  found  enough  employment  at  the  time  in 
maintaining  the  Louvre.  He  thanked  God  that  it 
had  subsided  at  the  moment  at  which  he  was  writ- 
ing; and  he  believed  that  it  had  originated  solely  in 
the  private  feud  so  long  subsisting  between  the  two 
powerful  houses  which  he  named.  Having  always 
foreseen  that  some  great  evil  would  result  from  that 

*  T)i'  Thou,  lii.  7.     Dinlnnvs,  p.  T.l. 

t  Monumeiis  inidtis  de I' Hist,  itc  fYaticc  Correspondance  de  Cliarki 
IX.  et  de  Mandelot,  Gouverntur  de  Lyon.  XIII.  dated  Aug.  82. 


A.  D.   If) 72.]  FIRST    DECLARATION.  21 

quarrel,  he  had  done  all  in  his  power,  he  said,  as 
every  one  must  acknowledge,  to  terminate  it  amica- 
bly. He  more  particularly  wished  it  to  be  under- 
stood, that  his  late  Edict  of  Pacification  had  not  in 
any  way  been  infringed,  and  he  still  hoped  to  main- 
tain it  as  inviolably  as  heretofore.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  prevent  any  risings  and  massacres  which 
might  occur  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  movement  at  Paris,  he  commis- 
sioned his  governors  to  assemble  all  the  forces  at 
their  command,  and  to  take  especial  measures  for 
the  preservation  of  peace.  A  short  postcript,  an- 
nexed to  many  of  these  despatches,  enjoined  the 
officer  to  whom  it  was  addressed  to  place  implicit 
confidence  in  the  verbal  communication  which  the 
bearer  was  instructed  to  deliver.*  To  the  nature 
of  that  mysterious  communication,  we  shall  find 
some  key  afforded  by  subsequent  events. 

On  the  following  morning,  the  enormities  of  the 
preceding  day  were  renewed  ;  and  although  the  har- 
vest of  slaughter  had  been  plentifully  gathered 
already,  care  was  taken  to  glean  whatever  few  scat- 
tered ears  might  remain  behindif  The  priests 
heightened  tlve  popular  frenzy  by  the  announcenient 
of  a  pseudo  miracle  ;  and,  in  the  cemetery  of  the 
Holy  Innocents,  a  whitethorn  was  exhibited,  which 
had  put  forth  unseasonable  blossoms,  either  produced 
by  a  caprice  of  nature,  or  purposely  stinuilated  by 
some  chemical   preparation.!     Whether  fraud  or 

*  The  Despatch  to  Mnndelot,  the  contents  of  which  we  have  abridged 
above  {''nrresp.  xiv.),  is  iiccompanicd  by  this  Postcript.  Ur.  I.ingard 
has  pointed  to  the  Mem.  de  feslat,  i.  405.  to  show  that  it  was  not  an- 
nexed to  all  I  he  Circular  Letters. 

t  Quasi  me.ise  affiUim  rt  picnis  manipuUs  jactd,  postridie spicas  qtiai 
remanseranl  sparxim  cnllis^ebant.     I)iiflos;7is.  p.  70. 

%  Sive  sponle.  qii'id  aUqitando  contini'it  cum  naivrd  deficiente  in  eo 
planta  est  ut  pniiiiis  exaresr.at :  siiv  aqua  t.epidu  ali  iiii;>n-loribus  infu- 
sa.  De  Thnii,  lii.  10.  In  the  abusive  notes  on  De  Tbon  piiblisheil  by 
the  Jesuit  Michailt,  under  the  assumed  name  of  Job.  Uiiptista  Gallus, 
this  passage  h;is  cilled  down  especial  vituperation.  Tlie  latter  conjec- 
ture ic riismisspil  sumniarily,  as  aliogethor  malicious;  and  ibe  former  is 
Mid  10  proceed  from  a  spirit  so  entirely  engrossed  by  secondary  causes, 


22  MIRACLE  OF  THE  WHITE  THORN.     [cHAP.  XI. 

accident  occasioned  the  extraordinary  appearance 
it  was  one  among  other  phenomena  which  the  per- 
secutors adroitly  turned  to  advantage.  The  un- 
usual serenity  of  the  weather  was  adduced  by  some 
fanatics  as  a  sure  token  of  the  approbation  of  Hea- 
ven.* "  This  month,"  exclaimed  another  preacher, 
"  is  truly  named  August,  how  nu^rust  moreover  was 
yesterday  !"t  But  the  thorn  was  on  all  hands  ac- 
knowledged to  be  an  incontestible  evidence  of  Divine 
favour.  The  citizens  were  invited  by  beat  of  drum 
to  come  and  behold  the  prodigy,  which  was  ex- 
pounded to  be  symbolical  of  the  revival  of  the  glorj' 
of  France  and  of  the  resurrection  of  her  former 
greatness,  in  consequence  of  the  downfall  of  Pro- 
testantism.| 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  although  the  Hugue- 
nots rejected  the  miracle,  they  nevertheless  thought 
it  worth  while  to  propose  an  opposite  allegorical  in- 
terpretation of  the  fact.  The  blossoms,  thej^  said, 
so  unusual  at  that  time  of  year,  betokened  that  the 
true  Church,  stricken  as  she  now  might  be,  should 
hereafter  be  renovated  and  flourish :  a  position 
which  they  confirmed  by  applying  the  precedent  of 
the  Burning  Bush  ;  the  connection  of  which,  how- 
ever, with  their  reasoning,  is  by  no  means  obvious. 
It  was  added  also,  in  an  egregious  spirit  of  trifling, 
that  the  very  place  in  which  the  wonder  had  oc- 


as to  be  unable  to  recognise  the  immediate  opemion  of  the  Great  First 
Cause.  Thuani  Opera,  vii.  47.  The  nialoscus,  however,  shows  De 
Thou's  suspicion  to  have  been  well  foiiiided  ;  quod  a  vetitlo  quodam  Fran- 
ciscano  excngitatiim  postea  compertum  est.    p.  70. 

♦  I)e  Thou,  lii   10. 

t  Jacobus  Carpr II fan's  illam  Ivcem,  ad  mensem  alludens,  Augi/stam 
scriptn  edito  dejincdicarit.  Id.  ibid.  On  this  passage  Michault  remarks, 
that  the  writer,  Muliitssel.sat  .svio,  et  iiefastam  did  et  nigerrimonotari, 
quod  ea  ViKTis  Cathoticorlm  rfe  HtPreticurum  perfidintrinmphavit. 
Ut.  sup.  'I'hese  notes  were  first  printed  at  Ingolslad.in  1614  :  two-and- 
thirty  years,  therefore,  had  elapsed  since  the  Massacre,  when  a  .lesuit 
promul,^ated  this  eulogy,  as  the  calm  result  of  meditation  upon  it  in  the 
silence  of  his  study. 

i  Oapilupi  notices  it,  crime  miracohdi  T>lo,e  scgnndelP  irasuapiacatu 
epromessa  difelicUi  a  quel  Regno.     Ln  Strntasema,  p.  81, 


A.  D.  1572.]     THE  KING  AVOWS  THE  MASSACRE.       23 

curred  proved  that  it  was  intended  much  more 
to  support  Innocence  than  to  sanction  an  act  of 
butchery.* 

Hitherto,  Charles  had  persisted  in  his  original  dec- 
laration, that  the  Massacre  had  been  projected  by 
the  Guises  vv^ithout  his  knowledge,  and  perpetrated 
by  them  against  his  will.  It  is  not  possible  to  as- 
certain the  secret  causes  which  occasioned  his  sud- 
den change  ;  but  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the 
Princes  of  Lorraine  were  not  less  reluctant  than 
himself  to  bear  the  whole  weight  of  criminality,  and 
that  they  were  far  too  powerful  to  remonstrate  with- 
out success.  An  argument  also,  not  unlikely  to  in- 
fluence a  king  jealous  of  his  authority,  has  been  at- 
tributed to  Catherine  de  Medicis  and  to  the  Duke 
of  Anjou ;  and  they  are  said  to  have  urged  upon 
Charles,  that  he  must  be  degraded  in  the  estima- 
tion of  foreign  courts,  if  he  continued  to  allow  that 
he  had  been  impotent  to  restrain  any  of  his  subjects, 
however  exalted  might  be  their  rank,  from  enga- 
ging in  an  enterprise  which  he  disapproved ;  and 
that  there  was  much  less  peril  in  at  once  avowing 
that  he  himself  was  the  author  of  an  act  which, 
bloody  as  it  might  be,  sufficiently  implied  the  pos- 
session of  great  power,  than  in  confessing  that  he 
was  too  weak  to  prevent  its  commission  by  others. 
The  king,  says  De  Thou,  dreading  contempt  far 
more  than  hatred,  yielded  to  these  representations, 
and  consented  to  declare  that  the  massacre  had 
been  perpetrated  by  his  command. f 

On  the  Tuesday  morning,  therefore,  after  cele- 
brating mass  with  great  solemnity,  the  king  held  a 
bed  of  justice,  and  recounted  to  his  assembled  Par- 
liament the  numberless  injuries  which  he  had  suf- 
fered, during  his  minority,  from  Coligny  and  the 
self-styled  Reformed;  all  of  which,  out  of  regard  to 
the  public  weal,  he  had  overlooked  at  the  last  peace. 

•  De  Thou,  111.  10.  tH.  lii.  11. 


24  FALSE    ASSERTION    OF  [CH.  XI. 

Nevertheless,  that  the  admiral,  in  order  that  nothing 
might  be  wanting  to  complete  his  wickedness,  had 
plotted  the  death  of  himself,  of  the  queen  his  mother, 
and  of  the  princes  his  brothers  ;  nay,  even  of  the 
King  of  Navarre,  who  professed  the  Huguenot  Re- 
ligion. The  object  of  these  atrocious  crimes  was, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  place  the  Prince  of  Conde 
on  the  throne;  and  afterward  by  his  removal-  also, 
which  would  dry  up  the  entire  fountain  of  the  royal 
blood,  to  make  way  for  the  usurpation  of  the  crown 
by  Coligny  himself.  This  great  evil,  the  king  af- 
firmed, was  to  be  counteracted  only  by  the  admis- 
sion of  another  and  an  opposite  evil ;  and,  notwith- 
standing his  reluctance  to  shed  blood,  he  had  felt  jus- 
tified in  hazarding  an  extreme  remedy  to  cure  an 
extreme  danger.  He  now  therefore  wished  all  men 
to  know,  that  whatever  punishments  had  been  in- 
flicted were  fully  authorized  by  his  royal  command. 
If  the  proceedings  which  ensued  had  not  ema- 
nated from  a  grave,  deliberative  body,  they  might  be 
received  as  a  bitter  satire  upon  this  conduct  of  the 
king.  The  first  President,  in  a  time-serving  reply,* 
praised  the  wisdom  which  Charles  had  manifested 
in  thus  suppressing  a  most  dangerous  conspiracy  ; 
and  congratulated  him  upon  his  intimate  practical 
acquaintance  with  that  sound  maxim  of  Louis  XI., 
qui  nescil  dissinmlare  nescii  regnare.  The  assembly 
demanded  permission  to  register  the  king's  declara- 
tion "  as  a  memorial  of  the  transaction  ;"t  and  it 
was  agreed  that  heralds  should  proclaim  through 
the  streets  of  the  capital,  that  murder  and  pillage 
were  henceforward  prohibited.  Notwithstanding 
this  proclamation,  as  the  royal  procession  returned 
to  the  Louvre,  a  noble  Huguenot  was  massacred 
close  to  the  king's  person  ;  and  Charles,  on  learning 
the  cause  of  the  sudden  tumult,  turned  round  and 


*  Tempori  accommodate  oratinni.     Id.  ibid. 
^  Ad  conaervandam  rei  memoriam.    Id.  ibid. 


A.  D.  1572.]       A  HUGUENOT  CONSPIRACY.  25 

exclaimed,  "  Would  to  heaven  that  he  were  the  last 
of  them  remaining- !"  His  wish  was  indeed  not  far 
from  gratification.  "  There  Avere  few  Huguenots 
killed  in  Paris  on  that  and  the  following  days," 
says  the  writer  from  whom  we  derive  the  above 
anecdote, "  because  there  were  few  who  survived."* 
How  little  credit  was  attached  by  contemporaries 
to  this  pretext  of  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the 
admiral,  may  be  readily  determined  by  comparing 
the  language  employed  by  two  only  out  of  many 
writers  of  those  times  ;  men  who,  however  widely 
differing  in  character,  were  alike  strongly  attached 
to  the  interests  of  the  court.  The  measured  cau- 
tion with  which  Davila  expresses  himself,  perhaps 
speaks  his  conviction  of  Charles's  falsehood  yet 
more  loudly  than  the  garrulous  reserve  (if  we  may 
so  term  it)  of  Montluc.  "  The  king,"  says  the  for- 
mer, "  most  earnestly  pressed  a  belief]  upon  the  Par- 
liament, that  the  accident  was  unforeseen  and  not 
premeditated  ;  occasioned  by  chance  and  produced 
by- necessity,  not  matured  by  long  and  sagacious 
fore  thought."  If  the  Parliament  had  not  adopted 
a  different  opinion,  whence  arose  tlie  need  for  this 
very  earnest  persuasion  '\  If  Davila,  an  eleve  of 
Catherine,  had  believed  the  king's  statement,  is  it 
likely  that  he  would  have  forborne  from  giving  his 
testimony  to  its  veracity?  Montluc,  with  whom 
our  readers  are  already  well  acquainted,!  is  far  more 
open.  The  queen,  he  says,  wrote  to  tell  him  of  the 
discovery  of  a  great  conspiracy,  which  had  occa- 
sioned all  Ijiat  afterward  happened  ;i^  but,  for  his 
part,  he  believed  that  Charles  had  never  forgotten 

*  Eli  die  tt  rceteris  sequcnt'bxis  jiaiici  Hug^mioti  Luletim  inter/ecti 
sutit.  nempe  i/wa  pauci  supereranl.     Dialngiis,  p.  "0. 

t  Stiidosavieiite  si aforzo  a persuadere.    Davila,  1. v. torn.  i. p.  298. 

J  Vol.i.  p.  237,  &c.  ■ 

^  Je  srnij  bien  r'eque  fen  creus.  Ufait  manva's  offender  son  maistre. 
Jje  Roy  n'oukl.a  jamais  i/vand  M.  l' Admiral  linj  fit  fnire  lai  traitle  de 
Meaux  a  Paris  plus  v-xle  que  la  pas.  Nous-  pcrnnns  Ventendemeiil  n^i 
boil  ilu  coup,  et  ne  songronsque  lex  Roys  onl  encor  plus  de  cwur  out 

Vol.  II.— C 


26  BRUTAL  TREATMENT   OF  [CH.  XI. 

the  admiral's  .concern  in  the  affair  at  Meaux ;  for 
princes  have  a  far  better  memory  for  offences  than 
for  services.  "  I  know  what  I  beUeve ;  it  is  but  bad 
policy  to  offend  one's  master." 

The  first  President  of  the  Parliament  who  thus 
bowed  himself  to  circumstances,  was  the  father  of 
the  intrepid,  upright,  and  uncompromising  historian 
De  Thou ;  and  no  small  proof  of  the  scrupulous  ve- 
racity of  that  great  writer's  narrative  may  be  de- 
rived from  his  having  thus  honestly  recorded  a  weak- 
ness which  he  must  have  condemned,  and  must  have 
wished  should  be  unremembered.  Had  it  not  been  for 
his  statement,  it  would  indeed  have  been  altogether 
forgotten  ;  for  every  document  connected  with  the 
St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  even  the  very  registra- 
tion of  which  De  Thou  speaks  above,  has  been  care- 
fully withdrawn  from  the  archives  of  the  Parliament 
of  Paris.*  These  efforts,  however,  to  obliterate  the 
records  of  crime,  and  to  escape  the  execrations  of 
posterity,  have  been  altogether  fruitless.  Parch- 
ments may  have  disappeared  and  muniments  may 
have  been  destroyed,  but  an  ever-during  memorial 
of  the  main  features  of  the  transaction  must,  alas  ! 
continue  to  exist  while  any  faculty  of  remembrance 
belongs  to  mankind. 

Three  days  had  now  elapsed  since  the  murder  of 
the  admiral,  and  during  the  whole  of  that  period,  his 
body  had  been  subjected  to  the  vilest  insults  of  the 
infuriated  rabble.  It  was  at  first  tossed  rudely  into 
a  stable  ;  then,  after  having  been  disfigured  by  sav- 
age and  unseemly  mutilation,  the  head  severed  from 
the  trunk  and  the  extremities  torn  from  the  limbs, 
it  was  dragged  through  the  streets  to  the  banks  of 
the  Seine. f     But   so  early  a  repose   beneath  the 

nojts  ;  et  qu'ils  oublient  plustost  les  services  tjjte  Ics  offences.  Montlac'. 
Commcntaires  liv.  vii.  torn.  ii.  p.  558.  EJ.  1661. 

*  Allen's  Replij  to  Lingard's  Yindicnt'on,  p.  76. 

t  Per  vicos  ad  Sequana:  ripam  tractum,  quod  oUum  otninosd  voce, 
qncnno's  nihil  tale  ogitans,  prcpsni;ieraf.  He  Thou,  lii.  7.  For  the 
evil  omen  see  vol.  i.  p.  376,  and  De  Tbou,  Oe  vita  sua,  lib.  i.  torn.  vii.  p. 


A.  IK  1572.]     THE  admiral's  remains.  27 

waters  would  have  disappointed  the  fierce  cravings 
of  a  malice  which  pursued  its  victim  even  beyond 
death.  Till  the  morning  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking-,  the  corpse  continued  to  be  trailed  through 
the  city ;  and  when  the  shapeless  mass  was  at 
length  suspended  in  chains  by  one  leg  from  the  gib- 
bet of  Montfaucon,  a  slow  fire  at  the  same  time  was 
kindled  beneath  ;  in  order  (to  use  the  forcible  lan- 
guage of  De  Thou)  that  every  element  in  turn  might 
contribute  some  share  to  its  destruction.*  De  Thou 
himself  witnessed  this  most  ignominious  exposure  ; 
and  he  called  to  mind,  with  bitter  reflections  on  hu- 
man instability,  the  scene  of  pomp  and  splendour  in 
which  he  had  recently  beheld  the  veteran  warrior 
engaged,  and  the  triumphant  anticipations  which  he 
had  then  heard  him  express  respecting  the  imagined 
war  in  Belgium. f  The  king  also  visited  these 
mangled  remains ;  and  Brantome  has  attributed  to 
him  on  that  occasion,  a  speech  originating  with  Vi- 
tellius.  When  some  attendant  turned  aside  to  es- 
cape the  offensive  smell,  Charles  observed  that  "  the 
body  of  a  dead  enemy  always  savours  sweetly. "J 
The  anecdote  may  not  be  authentic  ;  but  even  if  it 
is  not  so,  it  sufficiently  evinces  the  contemporary 
estimate  of  Charles'^s  cold-blooded  ferocity. 


10.  Even  these  cowardly  outrages  on  the  (lend  have  found  grace  in  the 
eyes  of  Michault.  Nam  qtwd  aliud  man  upretium  dehcbatur  liomm  i  sac- 
rorum,  si  qu'squam  al'iis,  osort .'  is  his  comment  on  the  above  passage 
from  De  Thou,  ib  d.  p.  47. 

*  Ut  per  omnia  elementa  veluti  torqueretur,  nam  in  terrd  occisus,  aquis 
merstis,  i^ni  snhjectus,  postremo  in  atrepepriidif.    Ibid. 

t  Vol.  i.  p.  3S0.  DeThou,  i>i:  v^td  .s-nd,  lib.i.  torn.  vii.  p.  II.  DeThou, 
while  going  to  mass  on  the  day  of  St.  Banholomew,  had  seen  the  bodies 
of  two  Huguenots  with  whom  he  was  acnuainted,  dragged  to  the  river; 
and  shocked  and  terrified  by  the  spectacle,  he  kept  within  doors  during 
the  remainder  of  the  massacre.  Afterward,  on  visiting  his  brother  near 
the  Gate  of  Montiiiartre,  lie  was  taken  to  some  rising  ground,  from  which 
he  had  a  view  of  tiie  gibbet  at  Montfaucon. 

t  Di.ir.nurs  Ixxviii.  tom.  vii.  p.  200.  Similar  words  are  recorded  of 
one  of  the  tyrants  of  ,\rihian  History.  When  the  Khalif  Almamom 
^bn  AM,  in  the  beginning  of  the  lllh  century  had  usurped  the  disputei} 


28       THE  admiral's  head  sent  to  home.    [ch.  XI. 

It  is  stated  that  Coligny's  head  was  carried  in  the 
first  instance  to  the  Louvre  ;  and  a  doubt  appears  to 
have  existed  at  the  time  whether  it  was  conveyed 
afterward  to  Madrid  or  to  Ronie.*  The  recently 
pubhshed  correspondence  between  Charles  and  the 
Governor  of  Lyons  decides  the  question  :  "  I  have 
received  the  letter  which  your  majesty  has  been 
pleased  to  write,"  are  the  words  of  a  despatch  from 
Mandelot,  dated  the  5th  of  September,  "  in  which 
your  majesty  informs  me  that  you  have  been  advised 
of  the  departure  of  a  messenger  conveying  the  head 
of  the  late  admiral  to  Rome ;  and  in  which  also 
your  majesty  enjoins  me  to  note  the  arrival  of  the 
messenger,  to  arrest  him,  and  to  take  from  him  the 
head.  I  have  accordingly  adopted  due  precautions, 
that  in  case  any  such  person  should  come,  your 
majesty's  order  shall  be  executed.  No  person  has 
lately  passed  through  this  city  on  his  way  to  Rome, 
excepting  a  gentleman  named  Paul,  belonging  to 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  quitted  Lyons  only  four 
hours  before  the  arrival  of  your  majesty's  de- 
spatch."! Who  can  doubt  that  this  "gentleman 
belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Guise,"  was  the  bearer  of 
the  most  welcome  offering  which  could  be  tendered 
to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  who  was  at  that  time 
in  Rome^  The  pious  care  of  Francis  Montmo- 
rency, whom  either  his  superior  good-fortune  or  sa- 

crovvn  of  Morocco,  he  suspended  the  heads  ofhis  enemies  whom  he  had 
put  to  death,  round  the  walls  of  his  capiial ;  and  answered  the  remark 
concerning  their  evil  odour,  by  a  speech  which  Conde  has  given  as  fol- 
lows. Los  espinht.t  lie  esas  cnhazas  guardan  esta  cndnd.  y  el  olor  de 
ellas  es  aromalico  ij  soave  jiara  los  que  me  aman  y  son  leaks,  y  pestilente 
y  mortal  para  tos  qiir  me  ahorrecen ;  asi  qtte  no  as  de  cuidadn,  qve  yon 
se  bieu  lo  qur  conviene  a  la  sahid  piiblca.  H-ist.  de  la  Doin:nacion  de 
los  Arabes  en  Espana,  torn.  ii.  cap.  57.  p.  438. 

*  Branl6ine,  Discours.  l.xxix.  lorn.  vi.  p.  301. 

t  Cnrrespnndanre,  .wiii.  p.  57.  De  Thou  positively  states  capUe  am- 
putate) quod  Roma77t  iisqitr  portotnm  est.  lil.  7.  The  Editor  of  Mandclot's 
Corres|U)nil(MU-e  niisial^enly  represents  De  Thou  as  hiving  spoken  with 
doubt  on  the  subject.  Preface  xii.  Tavannes  has  mentioned  the  fact  in 
Equally  positive  terms.  Sa  Ute  envoyie  A  Rome.  Mim.  p.  il9.  Ed.  Fol. 
sine  loco  aut  anno. 


A.  D.    1572.]       SECRET  ORDERS  OF  THE  KING.  29 

gacity  had  preserved  amid  the  general  destruction 
of  his  friends,*  at  length  stealthily  detached  from 
the^  gallows  what  remained  of  the  admiral's  body. 
For  a  while  he  dared  not  commit  it  to  consecrated 
ground ;  and  it  was  deposited  in  a  leaden  coffin,  and 
kept  in  a  secret  chamber  at  Chantilly,  till  the  ar- 
rival of  less  disturbed  times  permitted  its  transfer  to 
Chastillon,  and  its  interment  with  fitting  solemnity 
in  the  ancestral  vault  of  the  Colignys.f 

While  the  steam  of  innocent  blood  yet  mounted 
to  Heaven  from  almost  every  dwelling  in  Paris,  the 
hands  by  which  it  had  been  so  profusely  shed  were 
raised  in  mockery  of  devotion ;  and  on  the  Thurs- 
dayj  of  this  week  of  horrors,  the  king  attended  a 
solemn  thanksgiving  for  the  suppression  of  the 
fabricated  conspiracy.  At  the  same  time  he  issued 
fresh  circulars  to  the  provinces,  testifying  in  the 
outset  his  determination  to  observe  the  conditions 
of  the  last  peace,  and  yet  in  direct  contradiction  ta 
that  edict,  enjoining  the  Huguenots  to  abstain  from 
all  public  or  private  assemblies  ;  in  failure  whereof 
the  governors  were  instructed  "  to  fall  upon  them 
and  to  cut  them  in  pieces  as  enemies  of  the  crown."} 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  329. 

t  De  Thou,  De  Vildsitu,l\b.  i.  torn.  vii.  p.  11.  Davila,  lib.  v.  torn.  i.  p. 
296. 

t  Cflpilupi  is  mistaken  as  to  the  day  of  thanksgiving,  which  both  De 
Tliou,  lii.  10,  and  the  writer  of  the  I)  alni;us,  fix  on  TJiursday  the  28lh. 
But  the  Italian  writer  gives  the  reasons  which  occasioned  ttiis  celebra- 
tion with  a  simplicity  which,  except  for  the  horrible  recollections  awak- 
ened by  it,  would  be  altogolhor  ludicrous.  //  Ri  m  Purgi  vcs;:;  ndo 
tutta  la  cttd  sntt.oxnprn,  et  tbita  ili  mftffve.  et  piena  d'hombili  spettacoU 
di  morti,  estnln  sia  la  mas;gi<)r  partede  gH  huomhii  di  magsiore  auto- 
rita  apprrsxn  di  lorn,  il  Mmtidi  matl'ua.  due  giorni  dnpn  prmcipiatn  la 
slToge,  aitt  26  d'  Agost  ■,  ando  alia  Chesa  a  render  ledel/ite  graliea  Dio 
di  tnnfa  priisperila.     Lo  Strntagema,  p.  42. 

^.lulremeitt  Id  ou  ilz  ne  se  rtmldrneiit  retirer  apris  le  diet  advertisse- 
nient  que  voiis  leuren  aurez  fa'Ct,  vmis  leur  conrrez  et  feiez  courir  sus, 
et  les  taillrrez  rn  pieces  comme  eiinemiisde  ma  Couronne.  Corr^spoiul- 
ance,  xvii.  p.  53.  VVordi)  to  a  similar  effect  are  cmploved  in  a  larger 
draft  of  Instructions  to  the  Duke  of"  Guise,  as  Governor  ofCtiarnpagno, 
for  his  coniluct  to  the  Huguenots  in  that  province.  For  a  transcript  of 
the  original  of  that  very  interesting  document,  dated  Aug.  30,  1572,  and 
bearing  the  sign  manual  of  Charles  IX.,  now  preserved  in  the  Library  of 

C  2 


30       SECRET  ORDERS  OF  THE  KING,      [cH.  XI. 

"  Moreover/'  continues  this  despatch,  "^  whatever 
verbal  instructions  I  may  have  given  to  those  mes- 
sengers whom  I  have  heretofore  forwarded  to  you, 
or  to  my  other  governors  or  lieutenants,  when  I 
had  just  cause  to  apprehend  and  fear  certain  sinis- 
ter events,  well  knowing  the  conspiracy  which  the 
said  admiral  had  formed  against  me,  all  those  in- 
structions I  have  revoked,  and  do  now  revoke,  will- 
ing that  neither  by  you  nor  by  any  others  should 
any  part  of  them  be  executed." 

But  the  blast  laden  with  destruction,  which  had 
before  gone  forth,  was  not  thus  easily  to  be  recalled, 
and  the  fearful  scenes  enacted  at  Paris  were  imi- 
tated in  many  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.*  When 
Mandelot  acknowledged  this  second  despatch,!  he 
at  the  same  time  referred  the  king  to  an  account 
already  transmitted  to  him  of  occurrences  which 
had  taken  place  before  the  revocation  of  the  for- 
mer verbal  orders  had  arrived,  and  which  clearly 
evinces  their  atrocious  nature.  That  their  ten- 
dency indeed  should  ever  have  been  doubted  is  not 
a  little  surprising.  The  written  despatches  con- 
tained soothing  expressions  to  the  Huguenots,  whom 
it  was  necessary  to  deceive  till  the  provincial  garri- 
sons were  strengthened  ;  but  what  could  be  the  ne- 
cessity for  any  verbal  orders,  unless  they  contained 
matter  contradictory  to  that  which  had  been  writ- 
ten ?  Unless  they  enjoined  deeds  of  which  it  was 
not  deemed  convenient  that  written  evidence  should 

the  British  Mu.scum,  (Bibl.  Egerton  9.)  we  are  indebted  to  the  great  kini 
ness  and  urbanity  of  .lolui  Jlolmes,  Esq.  one  of  the  assistant  curators 
of  MS.S,  in  that  Cnllertion. 

*  In  the  arcliives  of  Nantes  is  still  preserved  a  I.etler  from  the  Duke  of 
Bourbon  to  IMoutpcnsier,  govoriior  of  that  city,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  in  Paris,  on  the  St,  Bartholomew,  bearing  date  Aug.  26lh,  and 
enjoining  the  magistrates  to  imitate  the  exairiple  which  had  been  set  by 
the  capital.  "  Par  Id  fintention  de  sa  Majestr  est  assfz  conmie  pmir 
le  traitement  qui  se  doit  f aire  aux  Huguenots  des  autres  vilUs."  Daru, 
Hist,  de  Bretagne,  torn.  iii.  liv.  ix.  p.  288. 

t  Sept.  5. 


A.  D.  1572. J    RAPACITY  OF  MANDELOT.        31 

exist?  Or  why  should  the  same  prince,  who  did 
not  scruple  to  avow  that  the  great  massacre  at 
Paris  had  been  executed  by  his  commands,  be 
thought  too  merciful  to  have  authorized  the  slaugh- 
ter which  ensued  in  the  provinces  !  Is  it  forgotten 
that  Sully  tells  us  he  had  in  his  hands  documents, 
by  which  it  appeared  that  the  king  extended  his  fury 
even  beyond  the  bounds  of  France,  by  instigating 
foreign  courts  either  to  follow  his  example,  or  at 
least  to  refuse  asylum  to  the  Huguenots]* 

From  the  day,  indeed,  on  which  the  first  messen- 
ger had  arrived,  the  streets  of  Lyons  ran  with  blood. 
In  obedience  to  the  king's  written  orders,  and  to 
that  luhich  the  Sieur  de  Perat\  told  him  on  the  part  of 
his  Majesty,  Mandelot  immediately  took  such  mea- 
sures "  that  the  lives  and  property  of  the  Re- 
formers were  at  his  disposal  without  any  tumult  or 
scandal. "J  For  the  remainder,  whether  we  follow 
his  own  jejune  official  representation,  the  detailed 
narrative  given  by  De  Thou,  or  the  rapid  sketch  by 
Capilupi,  the  "  disposal"  of  those  unhappy  wretches 
was  most  pitiable.  Each  of  the  above-named  ac- 
counts agrees  in  relating  that  the  Huguenots  were 
distributed  in  various  places  of  confinement,  that 
some  of  the  prisons  were  forced  by  the  populace, 
and  that  their  inmates  were  massacred.  The  chief 
difference  regards  numbers.  Mandelot  himself 
allowed  that  about  two  hundred  were  killed  in  the 
archbishop's  palace,  but  he  expressed  conviction 
that  the  others  would  be  secure  in  the  retirements 
which  he  had  selected  for  them.  But  on  the  even- 
ing after  he  had  thus  written,  those  asylums,  as  he 
wished  them  to  be  considered,  were  sacked,  and 

*  Memoircs,  lib.  torn.  i.  p.  4-1.     Ed.  I.ondres,  1778. 

1  This  must  be  the  Uuperaciis  whom  De  Thou  mentions  as  bearing 
orders,  vellr  ar.  jiibrre.  Regemut  Lugdunenses  Parisiensium  exemplum 
sequerentur.    lii.  12. 

\  Que  et  les  cars  el  les  b'liis  de  ceulx  de  la  Relliffion  aurnient  esle 
saisiz  et  m/s  soubs  voire  main  sans  aucun  tumulte  ny  scandalc.  Cor- 
'expondnvre,  xvi.  p.  45. 


32  RAPACITY    OF    MANDELOT.  [CH.  XT. 

the  prisoners  torn  ni  pieces.  No  specimen  of  more 
shameless  avidity  for  g-ain  exists  than  is  displayed 
in  the  remainder  of  this  letter.  The  king  is  in- 
formed in  it  that  all  the  property,  goods,  merchan- 
dise, and  papers  of  the  Huguenots  have  been  se- 
cured ;  and  he  is  counselled  not  to  make  any  dona- 
tion from  them  till  their  full  value  has  been  ascer- 
tained :  "  and  I,"  concludes  this  most  disinterested 
of  governors,  "  will  not  be  the  first  to  make  any 
demand  upon  your  majesty's  bounty ;  feeling  well 
assured,  that  if  you  once  begin  with  any  others,  1 
shall  be  so  far  honoured  as  not  to  be  forgotten."* 
Not  many  days  afterward,  we  find  him  pleading  with 
the  king  against  a  charge  which  seems  to  have  been 
Avhispered  in  the  royal  ear,  that  several  rich  Hugue- 
nots had  been  suffered  to  escape.  "  Sire,"  are  the 
remarkable  words  sufficiently  evincing  the  charac- 
ters both  of  the  writer  and  of  the  sovereign  to 
whom  they  were  addressed,—  "  Sire,  I  most  humbly 
entreat  you  to  believe  that  1  most  deeply  regret  that 
any  one  individual  has  been  saved ;  and  that  not  a 
single  one  has  been  so  through  my  means. "f  Yet, 
Mandelot,  before  these  damning  testimonies  of  ava- 
rice and  blood-thirstiness  had  been  produced  against 
him,  was  numbered  by  more  than  one  modern  writer 
among  the  few  generous  spirits  who  shrank  from 
the  execution  of  their  king's  sanguinary  decrees. 
We  shall  perceive  that  some  of  his  contemporaries 
formed  a  juster  estimate  of  his  merits. J 

De  Thou  attributes  the  carnage  at  Lyons,  not  to 
the  direct  orders,  but  to  the  connivance  of  Mandelot ; 
who  purposely  absented  himself  at  the  time  of  its 
committal,   and  gave  only   an  implied  permission 

*  Correapo-nthmce.  xri.  p.  49.  t  Id.  xxi  p.  TO. 

}  The  Kditor  of  llie  Corrrsjwvdancc  has  riled  some  passages  from  mo- 
dern pens,  in  whieh  Mandelot  is  enlo^'ized  for  having  revised  obedience  to 
the  knig's  orders.  A  truer  account  will  be  found  in  the  extract  from 
Capilupl,  which  we  give  a  little  onward  in  the  text  :  and  in  the  narrative, 
De  FuTorhus  Gallic. s.  written  ininiedialely  after  the  massacre,  under  the 
name  of  Varamund.    Ixxxi. 


A.  D.  1572.]     MASSACRE  AT  LYONS.  33 

beforehand.  Turning  to  the  second  mcs.sen2:er,  who 
confirmed  the  statement  of  De  Perat,  one  Peter  of 
Auxerre,  a  king's  advocate,  notorious  for  former 
crimes,  he  addressed  him  with  a  blasphemous  perver- 
sion of  Scripture,  "  That  which  Christ  once  said  to 
Peter,  now,  Peter,  say  I  to  thee,  Whatsoever  thou 
shalt  bind  or  loose  shall  be  loosened  or  shall  be 
bound :"'  and  the  utterance  of  this  parody  on  the 
words  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  was  the  signal  for 
almost  immediate  rapine  and  massacre.*  The  num- 
ber killed  at  the  archbishop's  palace,  according  to 
De  Thou,  was  three  hundred  ;  the  number  which 
perished  in  the  city  altogether  thirteen  hundred, 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages.  Among  them  was  the 
musician  Guardimel,  whom  we  have  already  men- 
tioned as  the  composer  of  the  tunes  to  the  Psalms  of 
ISIarot  and  Beza.f  Burial  was  refused  to  the  mur- 
dered heretics.  The  Rhone,  through  its  whole 
downward  course,  was  choked  by  their  floating 
corpses  ;  its  waters  and  fish  were  for  a  long  time  ren- 
dered unfit  for  use  ;  and  the  astonished  inhabitants 
of  distant  villages  on  its  banks  imagined  that  some 
great  battle  had  been  fought,  and  trembled  with  the 
apprehension  of  an  invading  enemy. J.  In  the  narra- 
tive of  Capilupi,  the  "  matchless  order  and  consum- 
mate prudence"  with  which  Mandelot  executed  his 
instructions,  awaken  a  rapturous  eulogy.  "  The 
heretics,"  he  says,  "  were  taken  calmly  and  quietly 
one  by  one,  like  so  many  cattle ;  and  fearful  and 
wonderful  was  the  spectacle  to  see  the  greater  part 
of  them,  without  the  slightest  tumult,^  lying  with 
their  throats  cut  in  the  Piazza,  naked  as  the  beasts. 


*DeThnu,  lii.  12. 

t  Vol.  i.  p.  50,  note. 

t  One  circumstance  is  too  horrible  for  more  than  a  passing  notice; 
opim  orihiis  radaverbui  ad  ad  pern  cnnfici-yidam.pharmacnplis  id  de 
po.irenlibiis concessit.     DeThoij,  ihid.    It  is  corroborated  by  Varamund. 

$  Scn.iai'eders  alcunliimulto  (the  very  words  employed  by  Mande- 
lot in  his  despatch  to  the  king) ;  la  maggior  parte  di  loro  scannati  su 
la  Piazza,  ig-nudi  cnme  bestic. 


34  NUMBERS  OF  THE  MASSACRED.  [cH.  XI. 

Another  division,  in  order  that  less  alarm  might  be 
created  among  the  populace,*  was  thrown  into  the 
river  ;  so  that,  in  less  than  two  days,  not  a  soul  re- 
mained ahve,  not  a  single  individual  could  save  him- 
self !"t 

The  pages  of  contemporary  authors  abound  in  nar- 
ratives of  similar  enormities  committed  in  many 
other  parts  of  France.  One  thousand  Huguenots 
perished  at  Orleans,  five  hundred  at  Rouen. J  A 
writer,  who  professes  his  inability  to  relate  more 
than  a  very  small  portion  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Reformed,  enumerates  eleven  principal  towns  in 
which  they  were  massacred  by  wholesale,  and  dwells, 
with  a  particularity  sufficiently  avouching  the  correct- 
ness of  his  information,  upon  many  specific  instances 
of  atrocious  cruelty. t^i  If  other  evidence  of  the 
great  extent  of  this  persecution  were  wanting,  ample 
proof  is  afforded  by  the  king's  own  proclamation 
for  its  suppression. II  The  general  thirst  for  blood 
which  Charles  had  inflamed  was  not  indeed  to  be 
allayed  without  copious  draughts.  Two  months 
elapsed  before  the  persecutors,  wearied  with  carnage, 
dropped  their  blunted  swords ;  and  De  Thou,  per- 
haps, falls  short  rather  than  exceeds  in  his  computa- 
tion, when  he  fixes  the  whole  number  of  Huguenots 
who  perished  at  little  below  thirty  thousand  ;  of 
that  number  at  least  one-third  may  be  allotted  to 
Paris-l 

*  Per  mm  spaventare  il  popolo. 

t  Lo  Stratagema,  p.  41. 

JDeThon,  iii.  12. 

^  iUm.  de  r  etat,  torn.  i. 

|]  In  a  letler  to  the  Dukeot  Gui.se,  dated  so  early  as  Sept.  18,  Charles 
speaks  of  heaucmip  de  sacnni^emen.t  et  pdlenes  de  maisons  de  civx  dr  la 
dite  Relligion,  tant  aiix  champs  qii'  mix  villcs.  .Mrm.  de  I'estat.  torn.  i. 
p.  416.  And  in  a  later  circular,  on  tlie  28lh  October,  he  admits  the  com- 
mission of  ni finis  meiirtrn;.  pilkries,  ft  ravssiniens.     Id.  p.  577. 

ir  f'apilupr(i).  4  n  says  25.000;  !«iilly  (liv.  i.  torn  i.  p.  54), 70.000.  Pere- 
fixe,  a  Uoinan  t:alliolic  and  Arctihishop  of  I'aris,  has  ral.'ied  the  nuiiilier 
tonearly  100,000.  It  would  lie  unpisi  to  that  most  excellent  and  exem- 
plary prelate,  when  mentioning  his  name  in  connexion  with  the  St.  bar- 
iholomcw,  If  we  onjitted  to  hciicc  Uie  indignation  with. which  bed;;- 


A.  D.   1572.]  EXULTATION  AT  ROME.  86 

When  intelligence  of  the  massacre  was  first  an 
nounced  at  Rome,  the  Vatican  gave  loose  to  un- 
bounded joy.  The  Pope*  and  Cardinals  proceeded 
at  once  from  the  conclave  in  which  the  king's 
despatches  had  been  read,  to  offer  thanks,  before  the 
altar,  for  the  great  blessing  which  Heaven  had 
vouchsafed  to  the  Romish  See  and  to  all  Christendom. 
Salvoes  of  artillery  thundered  at  nightfall  from  the 
ramparts  of  St.Angelo  ;  the  streets  were  illuminated ; 
and  no  victory  ever  achieved  by  the  arms  of  the 
Pontificate  elicited  more  tokens  of  festivity.  The 
Pope  also,  as  if  resolved  that  an  indestructible  evi- 
dence of  the  perversion  of  moral  feeling  which  fa- 
naticism necessarily  generates  should  be  transmitted 
to  posterity,  gave  orders  for  the  execution  of  a  com- 
memorative medal.  He  had  already  been  antici- 
pated in  Paris;  and  the  effigies  of  Gregory  XHI.  and 
of  Charles  IX.  may  still  be  seen,  in  numismatic 
cabinets,  connected  with  triumphant  legends  and 
symbolical  devices,  illustrative  of  the  massacre. f 


nounced  it.  Action  execrable,  qui  n'avo  t  jamais  eti,  et  qui  n'anra,  s'it 
plastd  Dieu,  jamais  de  pareillc.  Hist.  f!e  ffenri  le  Grand,  p.  29.  Laval's 
simplicily  on  this  point,  as  well  as  on  a  good  many  others,  is  not  a  little 
atnusiiig.  He  rejects  the  coinpuialion  of  Ue  Thou.  "Really  he  cannot 
be  credited  in  this;  for  since  the  waters  of  the  Seine,  Loire,  Marne,  and 
Rhone,  tvere  artualhj  turned  into  blood  for  general  days,  there  mast  ba 
certainly  a  greater  quantity  spilt  than  what  can  be  alTorded  by  the  slaugh- 
ter of  30,0(10  men,  good  part  whereof  were  slain  in  places  not  lying 
upon  the  banks  of  those  rivers."  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  in  France,  vol.  iii. 
Part  L  Book  \ .  p.  -137.  Historians  should  be  cautious  in  their  use  of 
figurative  language,  for  there  is  no  knowing  by  what  sort  of  commenta- 
tors they  may  happen  to  be  illustrated. 

*  How  little  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the  testimony  of  the  lively  and 
entertaining  Hrantftiiie,  when  unsupported,  is  plain,  from  his  account 
of  the  tears  shed  by  Ptus  V.  on  receiving  the  news  of  ihe  St.  Bartholo- 
mew. Dtscoitrs  l.xxi.x  torn.  vi.  p  303.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add,  that 
Pius  died  on  the  1st  of  May  preceding  the  massacre. 

t  A  vignette  o(  the  Papal  Medal  is  given  as  a  headpiece  to  the  Epitome 
of  the  xlixth  Book  of  DeThou,  in  the  Mid  volume  of  the  London  edition. 
The  obverse  bears  the  Pope's  head  ;  the  reverse  an  Angel,  carrying  a 
sword  in  his  right  hand,  a  crucifix  in  his  left,  employed  in  Ihe  slaughter 
of  a  group  of  both  sexes.  The  legend  is  Hi'GnNOTORtM  Strages, 
1572.  And  see  Bonanni  yiimismata  Pontif.  Rnmnn.  !.  p.  336  (tig.  27), 
where  the  crucifix  in  the  hand  of  the  Angel  is  said  to  bear  relerence  to 
the  white  cross  marked  on  the  doors  oi  the  Huguenots,  and  borne  in  the 


36  JOY  OF   THE  CARDIXAL.  [cH.  XI. 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  presented  tlie  messen- 
ger with  H  thousand  pieces  of  gold,  and  unable  to 
restrain  the  extravagance  of  his  delight,  exclaimed, 
that  he  believed  the  king's  heart  to  have  been  filled 
by  a  sudden  inspiration  from  God,  when  he  gave 
orders  for  the  slaughter  of  the  heretics.*  Two 
days  afterward,  he  celebrated  a  solemn  sersice  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Louis,  with  extraordinary  magnifi- 
cence ;  on  which  occasion,  the  Pope,  the  whole  ec- 
clesiastical body,  and  many  resident  ambassadors 
assisted.  An  elaborate  inscription  was  then  affixed 
to  the  portals  of  the  Church,  congratulating  God, 
the  Pope,  the  college  of  Cardinals,  and  the  Senate 
and  People  of  Rome,  on  the  stupendous  results  and 
the  almost  incredible  effects  of  the  advice,  the  aid, 
and  the  prayers  which  had  been  offered  during  a  pe- 
riod of  twelve  years. t 


hats  of  the  assassins.  "  Those  medals,"  says  Missoii,  in  his  Voyage  to 
Italy,  "  are  become  very  scarce,  yet  I  obtained  some  of  them  by  the 
assist'ince  of  my  friends."  lie  irieniions  also  three  picinres,  psinled  by 
order  of  Gresnry,  ill  the  Hall  of  Itie  Ambassadors  in  the  Vatican.  One 
represented  Ihe  Admiral  shot  by  Maurevel ;  another  his  murder  :  and 
the  third  bearing,  as  an  inscription.  Rex  Caro/iis  necevi  prnlm/.  The 
delivering:  of  (he  news  of  his  assassination  lo  the  Kins.  l)e  Thou  de- 
scribes both  gold  and  silver  medals  struck  at  Tans.  The  legend  round 
the  king's  head  in  one  was  Vihtis  in  Rkbki.i.ks  ;  the  device  on  the 
reverse  two  columns  (the  ordinary  device  of  Charles),  the  legend  Pii  tas 
KXiiTAViT  JisrrriAM.  In  the  other,  the  legend  on  the  obverse  was 
Caholi  s  IX.  Rkbki.lum  Dumitor  ;  the  device  on  the  reverse,  Hercules 
■with  his  club  and  a  lighted  torch  destroying  the  hydra,  liii.  1.  See 
also  M  7)1.  de  I'etat,  loin.  i.  p  .386. 

*  Quant  ail  Cardinal  de  Lnrrahie,  qui  enjit  ce  bel  Arch  Trivmphal  a 
Rome,  il  ne  fait  njcllc  mention  de  ceste  Conjvrntion,  mn  s  attribite  ta 
toute  (I  vne  SDudanc  insp  raion  de  Den  an  roeiir  dii  Kny.  .••}:ert  s- 
sement  an  Lecttur  \)rvt\\i'<\  to  the  Krench  tianshiiion  of  IjO  Stralaiiuna, 
p  8.  We  do  not  remeiiiher  to  \r\vv  seen  the 'f  riuniph-il  Arch  mriitioiied 
elsewhere.  The  reader  cannot  fad  lo  notice  the  iinidied  disbelief  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  in  any  Huguenot  conspiracy. 

Walsingham.  writing  home  to  IJiirkigh  a  lew  months  afterward, 
gives  a  striking  impression  of  the  ill  repute  in  which  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine  was  held.  "  All  men  look  for  some  mischievous  issue  of  their 
goveninient.  It  lacketh  but  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine's  presence  to  has- 
ten the  same  In  its  full  ripeness."  Nov.  1, 1572.  Digges,  Complete  Am- 
bassador, p.  281. 

t  Duodecennatiwn  precutn  et  votorum.    Ue  Thou,  liii.  4. 


A.  D.  1572.]    THE  STRATAGEM  OF  CAPILUPI.  37 

Wlien  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  indulged  in  this 
unchristian  exultation  over  his  fallen  enemies,  he 
might  plead  the  excuse,  slight  and  inadequate  as  it 
is,  of  having  been  engaged  in  a  long  personal  and 
political  collision  ;  during  which  angry  passions  were 
necessarily  excited,  and  perhaps  could  not  fail  to 
establish  dominion  over  a  heart  unaccustomed  to 
self-discipline.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  a  man  of 
letters  and  a  foreigner,  one  removed  from  the  scene 
of  contest,  and  unconnected  with  these  demctralizing 
strifes,  who  from  the  calm  retirement  of  his  study 
could  eulogize  a  deed  smelUng  so  rankly  to  Heaven  ! 
Perhaps  no  more  remarkable  monument  exists  of 
the  extent  to  which  the  hardening  influence  of  big- 
otry can  pervert  the  human  mind,  than  is  afforded 
by  the  little  volume,  the  Stratagema  of  Capilupi,  to 
which  we  have  more  than  once  had  occasidn  to 
allude.  It  was  composed  within  a  month  after  the 
commission  of  the  foul  act  which  it  panegyrizes  ; 
and  it  was  inspected  and  patronised  by  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine.  The  writer,  therefore,  was  well 
schooled  in  his  subject :  he  evinces  no  mean  powers 
of  narration ;  and  he  particularizes  and  dwells  with 
undissembled  pleasure,  upon  the  various  circum- 
stances of  horror  with  which  he  had  become  familiar. 
His  main  object  Avas  to  build  up  that  hypothesis 
which  some  later  Romanists  have  sought  to  destroy  ; 
and  with  all  the  advantages  afforded  by  living  at  the 
very  time,  and  by  possessing  intimate  access  to  one 
best  acquainted  with  the  secret  policy  of  the  French 
Court,  and  who  himself  had  often  touched  the  springs 
by  which  it  was  directed,  he  blazoned  abroad  the 
massacre  as  the  result  of  a  long  and  deeply  medi- 
tated design.  Of  his  general  style  and  mode  of  rea- 
soning some  judgment  may  be  formed  from  the 
following  specimen.  "  And  here  I  must  not  pass 
by  the  greatness  of  this  action,  nor  omit  to  consider 
and  to  weigh  the  virtue  of  the  king  and  queen,  and 
Vol.  H.— D 


38  CAPiLUpr.  [chap.  xi. 

of  their  counsellors,  in  adopting  this  noble  and  gene- 
rous project ;  their  dexterity  in  handling  it ;  their 
art  in  dissembling,  their  prudence  in  concealing  it; 
their  ardour  in  pursuing,  and  their  great  happiness 
in  finally  executing  it.  To  say  the  truth,  if  we 
diligently  examine  all  these  things,  not  only  are  the 
enactors  worthy  of  everlasting  glory,  but  no  one  can 
doubt  that  they  were  elected  and  set  apart  bj'^  the 
all-powerful  Redeemer  to  minister  His  eternal  will. 
Through  their  means,  He  brought  to  perfection  a 
work  which  must  be  aflirmed  to  proceed  from  His 
infinite  sovereignty.  Every  man  moreover  must  be 
forced  to  confess  and  to  acknowledge  that  this  action 
was  premeditated,  conceived,  and  put  in  train  many 
months  beforehand,  and  did  not  spring  from  accident ; 
neither  was  it  eventually  provoked  by  the  insolence 
of  the  Huguenots  after  the  wound  of  tlie  admiral. 
Some  persons,^!  know,  profess  that  opinion,  and  are 
anxious  to  make  others  also  believe  it ;  averring  that 
the  assassination  of  the  admiral  might  be  premedi- 
tated, but  that  the  general  massacre  happened  casu- 
ally, and  resulted  from  the  necessity  of  circum- 
stances. The  falsehood  of  this  notion  vvill  plainly  ap- 
pear, if  we  pxamine  all  the  passages  of  the  affair,  and 
the  many  tokens  of  forethought  and  design  which 
the  king  and  queen  for  a  long  time  had  manifested, 
at  various  seasons  and  to  different  persons."*  If  it 
were  not  for  the  indisputable  certainty  of  the  pub- 
lication of  this  tract  two  hundred  aiid  sixty  years 
ago,  Capilupi  might  be  thought  to  address  himself 
in  these  words  to  the  rakers  up  of  the  dead  ashes  of 
former  incredulity,  who  have  endeavoured  in  our  own 

*  Lo  Sfrafagcma,j)  67.  In  other  places  Capilujii  rails  the  massacre 
un  gloriosofatfo—qtiestofelicissimn  tmtfaio;  and  again  he  says  more 
fuWy, ronsiUerandnsi  poi  la  felecita  cotlaqvalt  un  tawonegotio s>a  per- 
venuto  a  buonfmc  incnsi  breiie  tempo,  nnn  si  pud  reilar  senza  stvpore, 
e  di  non  ritnrnor  sempre  n  qiiesto  pii.tso  di  conchnidff  '.  nectssariamcnte 
eke  il  lutto  sia  slata  npcra  e  vnlonta  di  Dia,  qui  A  tericoniid  motua 
v'oluit  visUaie jaieliem  suam,  p. 77. 


A.  D.  I572.]       EXULTATION  AT  MADUID,  39 

lime  to  kindle  them  into  new  flame  by  the  breath  of 
partisanship.* 

In  Madrid,  \h<^  news,  it  is  said,  was  received  with 
scarcely  less  ecstasy  than  at  Rome.  So  great  was 
the  expedition  of  the  courier  by  whom  it  was  con- 
veyed, tliat  he  travelled  th'-ee  days  and  tliree  nights 
without  repose ;  and  the  King  of  Spain  at  first 
scarcely  credited  that  intelligence  so  joyous  could 
be  true.  The  letter  of  Charles  at  length  convinced 
him  that  he  might  indulge  the  gratifying  belief;  and 
without  a  moment's  loss  of  time,  he  sent  the.  cou- 
rier on  to  the  Admiral  of  Castile.  That  minister 
was  at  table  when  he  was  interrupted  by  a  loud  cry 
from  one  entering  the  banqueting-room,  "  News, 
news,  good  news  !  AH  the  Lutherans,  and  especially 
the  chiefs,  were  put  to  the  sword  in  Paris  three  days 
since  ;  only  three  of  them,"  continued  the  bearer  of 
these  glad  tidings,  *•  have  survived.  Vandomillo" 
(the  little  Vendome,  as  the  Spaniards  affected  to  call 
the  King  of  Navarre),  "  because  he  had  married 
the  king's  sister :  the  Prince  of  Conde,  who  is  but 
a  boy ;  and  the  Count  of  Montgomery,  who  has 
saved  himself  by  a  miracle,  not  of  God  but  of  the 
devil,  having  ridden  seventy  leagues  on  horseback 
without  stopping."  The  Duke  D'Infantado  (who, 
in  excuse  for  his  simplicity,  we  are  informed,  was  a 
very  young  prince,  and  as  yet  unexperienced  in 
courtsf )  happened  to  be  among  the  company ;  and 
he  put  a  natural  question,  whether  Coligny  and  his 
partisans  were  Christians  1  When  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  he  added  an  equally  natural  expression 

*  When  the  library  of  the  Vatican  was  at  Paris,  M.de  Chateaubriand 
discoverer!  in  it  some  despatches  written  in  ciphi^r  from  Ihnt  city,  by 
Salviali,  Itie  papal  nuncio,  between  July  5  ai;i|  Nov.  27,  1572.  M.  de 
ChateaubrjaiMi  inferred  from  those  lioumenls  that  the  massacre  was 
not  premeditated.  Sir  .lames  Macl«intosh,  to  whom  they  were  commu- 
nicated, remained  unshaken  in  his  former  opinion  !o  the  contrary.  The 
evidence  is  examined  al  l?n!jth  by  the  continuator  of  Sir  .lames  Mack- 
intosh's Ws/.  of  E'u;larid(vn].  iii.  p.2S3),  and  it  plainly  resolves  itself 
into  the  single  and  unsupported  assertion  of  Salviali. 

t  Fort  jeune  Prince  et  peu  encor  pmtic. 


40  THE  KING   OF  NAVARRK  [cH. 


XI. 


of  astonishment,  that  being  both  Frenchmen  and 
Christians  they  should  have  been  slaughtered  like  so 
many  beasts  !* 

The  youth  of  the  two  Bourbon  princes,  the  royal 
blood  of  which  they  partook,  the  alliance  which 
Henry  in  particular  had  contracted,  but  six  days 
before,  with  Margaret,  may  have  presented  them- 
selves to  the  king,  her  brother,  as  strong  arguments 
for  permitting  them  to  live.  Neither  would  it  have 
been  easy  for  him  to  fulfil  his  original  intention  of 
imputing  the  massacre  to  the  Guises,  if  he  had  allowed 
his  own  kinsmen  to  be  assassinated  under  the  roof 
of  his  own  palace.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th, 
the  two  princes  were  arrested  and  rudely  carried  to 
the  king's  presence-chamber  ;  where  Charles,  after 
announcing  the  death  of  Coligny  and  the  existing 
state  of  his  capital,  upbraided  them  with  the  many 
wrongs  which  he  had  suffered  from  themselves  and 
from  their  adherents :  at  the  same  time  professing 
his  willingness  to  believe  that  they  had  erred  from 
the  misguidance  of  others,  provided  they  would  now 
renounce  their  false  creed,  and  adopt  the  ancient 
religion.!  The  King  of  Navarre  evinced  little 
firmness,  and  readily  temporized  ;  but  Conde  long 
hesitated.  Even  the  threat  of  the  Bastile,J  and  the 
final  terrific  alternative  proposed  to  his  choice,  La 

*  BrantOme,  Discouts  Ixxix.  torn.  vi.  p.  301,  308,  where  he  professes 
to  relate  the  anecdote  on  the  authority  of  a  gentleman  iiresent  at  the 
time.  He  makes  a  similar  assertion  however,  respecting  the  grief  of 
Pius  V. ,  which  we  have  noticed  before. 

j  Davila's  choice  of  words  is  remarkable— /n  tanto  il  Ri  et  la  Reina 
confortavono  ;/  Rf  di  Navarra.  lib.  v.  torn.  i.  p.  295. 

i  "  They  prepare  the  Hastile  for  some  persons  of  quality.  It  is  thought 
that  it  is  for  the  Prince  ofCond^and  his  brethren." — Walsingham  to  Sir 
Thomas  Smith,  Sept.  13,  1572.  Diggcs,  p.  240.  The  estimation  in 
which  the  Bastile  was  held  may  be  learned  from  another  despatch  a 
few  days  later,  in  which  Walsinghum  attributes  the  abjuration,  to 
which  the  Prince  of  Conde  had  then  consented,  to  a  ilread  of  impri-'on- 
ment.  "  On  Sunday  last,  the  young  Princess  of  Cnnd6  was  constrained 
to  go  to  mass,  being  threatened  otherwise  to  go  to  jirison.  and  so  r.onxe- 
quently  to  be  made  away.  The  Prince  of  Con<le  halh  also  yielded  to 
hear  mass  upon  Sunday  next,  being  otherwise  threatened  to  go  to  th* 
Bastile,  ivkere  In  is  not  likely  Ions  to  sene."—ld  p.  245. 


A.  D.  1572.]       AND  THE  PRINCE  OF  CONDE.  41 

mort  ou  la  Messe,*  availed  not  to  shake  his  constancy; 
and  it  is  believed,  that  but  for  the  intercession  of 
the  queen-consort,  Charles  at  one  time  would  have 
stabbed  him  with  his  own  hand  for  his  obstinate  re- 
cusancy.f  The  seasonable  conversion  of  a  Hu- 
guenot minister,  Sureau  du  Rosier,  a  pastor  of  high 
reputation  in  Orleans,  at  length  produced  the  effect 
which  Charles  desired.  Conde  listened  without 
change  to  a  public  declaration  of  faith,  which  Du 
Rosier  pronounced  before  the  Sorbonne  ;  but  when 
he  afterward  received  assurance  from  the  weak  or 
treacherous  minister  that  he  was  sincere,  and  that 
he  had  not  yielded  to  the  terrors  of  martyrdom, 
the  young  prince  surrendered  his  own  better  con- 
viction, and  no  longer  refused  to  conform.  The 
subsequent  course  of  the  wretched  tool  whom  the 
king  had  thus  employed  leaves  it  doubtful  whether 
he  had  deceived  himself  or  was  a  deceiver  of 
others.  For  a  time,  he  practised  largely  and  with 
success  as  a  Romish  missionary,  both  in  Paris  and 
in  Metz  :  but  in  an  attempt  at  Sedan  to  shake  the 
faith  of  a  distinguished  Huguenot  lady,  a  daughter 
of  the  Duke  de  Bouillon  and  wife  of  the  Duke 
de  Montpensier,  he  encountered  a  signal  defeat. 
Chagrined  at  this  failure,  and  touched  with  re- 
morse at  the  warnings  of  his  ancient  brethren, 
he  retired  to  Heidelberg ;  and  there,  as  De  Thou 
well  expresses  it,  he  reCanted  his  former  repentance, 
published  a  tractj  full  of  bitter  sorrow  for  his  past 

*  Pereflxe,  p.  30.  Davila  has  related  this  scen^  vividly :  Tl  Ri,  inas- 
prito  dalV  ositiatione  e  dfilla  divezza  suat/aL'olo  ptr  nltitno  esperi- 
mento  condurre  a  se,  con  vore  e  aspetlo  te'nib  Ic  c;li  dsse  queste  tresole 
parole,  "  Mes.ia,  Morte,  o  BastigUa?"  Ne  'jh  voile  permettere  die 
replicassf  in  contrario  alcuna  cos<?.  lib  v.  torn,  i   p.  300. 

t  De  Thou,  liii.  3. 

t  Confisxion  de  rccoTiloissanre  d' HugUfs  Sineau,  dit  du  Rosier, 
touchant  sa  cheuteen  la  Papauli,  et  les  horn'il'i  scatidales  par  luy 
comms  :  servant  de  Vexetnpic  a  tout  le  monde  I'l  lafra^ibtr  et  perver- 
aite  de  thomme  ahandoniii;  a  soy,  et  deVinJii,  i  miser  cnrde  et  ferme 
vtritdc  D'Cu  imvers  ses  estevs:  primed  in  ilie  .1/  m.  de  I'fStnf.  torn.  ii. 
p.  104.  In  this  tract  is  n;entioned  a  remarkable  .iriifice  prarlised  by  the 
Bomanisis,  who  stated  in  the  authonzed  acioi:  i!  of  the  King  of  Na- 

D2 


42  SUREAU   DU   KOSIKR.  [CH.  XI. 

offences,  and  wrote  to  Conde,  implornig  forgiveness 
for  having  hurried  him  into  so  grievous  a  peril  of 
conscience  by  his  pestilent  and  destructive  ministry. 
This  double  apostacy*  justly  degraded  him  in  the 
eyes  of  both  religions  ;  and  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  Germany,  unmolested  indeed,  but 
neglected  and  despised. f 

The  appearance  of  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  at  mass,  and  the  publicity  given  to 
letters  which  they  were  persuaded  to  address  to  the 
Pope,|  deploring  their  former  blindness,  and  solicit- 
ing reconciliation  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  re- 
moved all  doubt  as  to  their  change.  Gregory  re- 
plied^ most  graciously,  and  accepted  their  profes- 
sions of  conformity.  Before  the  arrival  of  this 
answer,  Henry  had  issued  a  decree||  abolishing  the 
reformed  religion  and  restoring  the  ancient  faith 
in  his  hereditary  dominions.  The  Bearnese,  how- 
ever, refused  obedience  to  the  edict ;  which  they 
declared  with  boldness,  and  perhaps  with  truth,  was 
not  the  result  of  free  will,  but  had  been  extorted 
from  their  king  in  his  captivity. 

The  miserable  state  of  France  at  this  period, 
the  dislocation  of  all  the  bonds  of  internal  society, 

vnrre's  conversion,  that  it  was  occasioned  by  the  recantation  of  several 
other  ministers  besides  Dii  Rosier.  "  This  assertion,"  says  the  penitent, 
"is  utterly  false ;  tliere  was  no  apostate  except  myself;  mois  on  a  suivi 
la  cuustvme  inn  Papistes,  lesr;nels  ne  sauroient  reciter  simplement  ce 
qui  est  ndvenu.  xan.i  y  adjouster  qnelqiie ikose." — p.  107. 

*  If  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Madaura  may  be  trusted,  it  was 
more  than  double.  He  says  that  Uu  Rosier  in  youth  had  received 
deacon's  orders  in  the  Romish  t'hurch.  Hist,  de  VHeresie  dans  la 
rule  de  Metz,  liv.  ii.  f.  SIR. 

t  He  died  in  1575,  himself  and  his  whole  family  being  swept  away 
by  the  plague.  Kemaniues  .sur  la  Confession  de  Sancy.  Journal  de 
Henry  III.,  tom.  v.  p  504.  Hist,  de  I'lleresie,  ut  sup.  where  Rp.  Meu- 
rissc  speaks  of  Surean  with  thebilfcrcst  contempt.  "  II  vesquit  pourtant, 
tousjours  depuis,  parmy  ceu.x  dece  party,  dans  un  grand  niespris,  parce 
qu'il  fut  rccogneu  pour  un  fourbe,  pour  un  esprit  inconstant,  pour  un 
liomnie  sans  religion,  sans  conscience,  et  mesnie  sans  jngement,  et 
qui  ne  fiit  jamais  aprt^s  ccste  recheutp.  d'nn  sens  rassis. Ce  de- 
testable, apros  avoir  traine  le  reste  de  sa  vie  en  langueurseten  miseres, 
imourut  de  pesle,  avec  sa  femme  pretenduC  et  lous  scs  enfans  dans  la 
vjlle  de  Francfort." — p.  392, 383.   The  stutemeot  is  probably  overcharged. 

t  Ocroifcr  3.  $  NtA'omlJoi  1.  |1  Oclobor  16. 


A.  D,  1672.]  walsingham's  despatches.  42 

the  petty  subterfuges  to  which  the  court  was  re- 
duced in  its  intercourse  with  foreign  powers,  the 
universal  mistrust  of  its  sincerity  generated  in  con- 
sequence, the  present  sufferings  of  the  people  at 
large,  and  the  gloomy  anticipations  which  pervaded 
all  classes  for  the  future,  are  vividly  depicted  in  the 
despatches  of  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  at  that  time 
resident  ambassador  from  England.  Walsingham,  it 
need  scarcely  be  observed,  was  one  of  the  most 
penetrating,  active,  and  sagacious  of  that  unrivalled 
band  of  statesmen  who  directed  the  councils  of 
Elizabeth  ;  and  his  record  of  the  transactions  which 
he  witnessed,  and  of  tlic  principal  actors  in  them, 
with  whom  he  almost  daily  associated,  abounds  in 
keen  dramatic  interest.  We  find  him,  on  the  Wed- 
nesday after  the  massacre,  expressing  thanks  to 
Charles  and  the  queen-mother  for  the  great  care 
which  it  had  pleased  them  to  take  of  his  own  person 
and  of  Englishmen  in  general,  during  the  late 
"tumult;"  and  requesting  to  be  informed  of  "the 
very  truth  thereof,"  in  order  that  he  might  advertise 
his  mistress.*  Shortly  afterward,  he  learned  that 
three  English  had  been  killed  and  many  others 
plundered  ;t  for  which  outrages  the  king  promised 
exemplary  justice,  and  must  have  been  somewhat 
perplexed  when  the  ambassador  calmly  replied,  tliat 
it  would  be  hard  to  produce  the  offenders,  the  dis- 
order having  been  so  general,  and  the  sword  having 
been  committed  to  the  common  people.  In  an 
early  interview  with  Catherine,  Walsingham  boldly 
touched  upon  the  conferences  at  Bayonne  as  having 
produced  a  league  against  those  of  the  Religion, 
and  she  appears  to  have  been  galled  by  the  charge ; 
for,  in  reply,  without  adducing  any  opposite  proof, 

*  Dieires,  p.  238. 

t  "  We  hear  say,''  writes  SirThoinss  Smith,  in  a  despatch  to  Wal- 
singham, dated  Sept.  12,  "  tliat  he  that  was  sent  by  my  lord-chamber- 
lain In  be  sclioolinasler  to  young  Wharion.  being  come  the  day  befoie, 
was  then  slain.  Alas'  he  was  acquainted  with  nobody,  nor  could  be 
jiar'aker  of  any  (nMl-dt'aling."— W.  p.  252. 


44  walsingkam's  [ch.  xt. 

she  contented  herself  with  inveighing  vehemently 
against  the  admiral,  and  with  maintaining  that  "  the 
assembly  at  Bayonne  tended  to  no  other  end  than 
to  make  good  cheer."  Then  followed  that  often- 
cited  conversation  in  which  the  subtle  queen  was 
so  completely  baffled  by  the  ready  answers  of  the 
minister,  whom  she  expected  to  silence.  "  See  in 
this  paper,"  said  Catherine,  "  how  much  your  mis- 
tress was  beholden  to  the  admiral !"  and  she  showed 
him  an  autograph  discourse,  found  in  the  pillage  of 
the  murdered  nobleman's  cabinet,*  in  which  he 
advised  Charles  to  keep  the  Queen  of  England  as 
low  as  he  could,  for  the  safety  and  maintenance  of 
his  own  crown.  "  To  that  I  answered,"  writes 
Walsingham,  "  that  in  this  point,  however  he  was 
affected  towards  the  queen  my  mistress,  he  showed 
himself  a  most  true  and  faithful  subject  to  the 
crown  of  France  ;  and  the  queen's  majesty  my 
mistress  made  the  more  account  of  him  for  that  she 
knew  him  faithfully  affected  to  the  same."  Cathe- 
rine then  spoke  of  the  king's  intention  to  allow 
liberty  of  conscience ;  but  in  the  same  breath  she 
remarked,  that  he  would  have  but  one  religion  in  his 
realms.  When  asked  how  that  resolution  could 
accord  with  the  declaration  so  often  repeated,  that 
they  designed  in  all  things  fully  to  observe  the 
terms  of  the  last  peace  ■?  she  evaded  the  inquiry,  by 
stating  that  they  had  discovered  certain  matters  of 
late  which  made  it  necessary  to  abolish  the  exercise 
of  the  Reformed  Religion.  "  '  Wliy,  madam,'  said 
I,  '  will  you  have  tlieni  live  without  any  exercise 
of  religion  ■?' — '  Even,'  said  she,  '  as  your  mistress 
suffereth  the  Catholiques  of  England.'  "  Tlie  parry 
no  doubt  was  dexterous,  but  it  was  returned  by  a 


♦These  papeis  were  intrusted  to  the  care  of  Jean  de  Morvilliers, 
Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  made  :i  catalogue,  suppressing  a  great  number, 
which,  tendi.nf;  loColJcny's  juslifioalion.  niislit  Imve  heen  injuriousto 
the  kiiiR  and  to  Catherine.  Le  Laboureur,  A(Wi^  aux  Mem.  de  Castel- 
nau,  torn.  i.  p.  501. 


A.  D.  1672.]  DESPATCHES.  45 

masterly  and  triumphant  pass,  which  no  adroitness 
could  elude.  "  My  mistress  did  never  promise  them 
any  thing  by  edict ;  if  she  had,  she  would  not  have 
failed  to  perform  it."  Catherine  terminated  the  con- 
versation by  pettishly  remarking,  that  each  kingdom 
must  be  governed  according  to  the  discretion  of  its 
own  sovereign.* 

The  French  ambassador  in  England,  uncertain 
what  tale  he  was  to  avouch,  at  first  seemed  wholly 
incompetent  to  satisfy  Elizabeth's  searching  in- 
quiries. He  showed  outwardly  "  a  marvellous  iaward 
grief  of  mind  for  this  shameful  fact,  professing  him- 
self ashamed  to  be  counted  a  Frenchman. "t  Politi- 
cal expediency  forbade  an  open  rupture  with  France, 
but  Elizabeth  was  not  backward  in  expressing  her 
horror  of  the  act,  and  her  conviction  of  its  premedita- 
tion.J  In  Paris,  as  we  have  seen,  no  disguise  was 
attempted  ;  the  king  declared,  *'  as  well  by  speech 
as  by  continuance  of  the  most  extreme  severity  to- 
wards those  of  the  Religion,  that  the  said  accident 
proceeded  of  himself."i^  When  asked  why  he  had 
not  preferred  a  legal  process  to  an  unlicensed  massa- 
cre, "  for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  forces  that 
murthered  so  many  might  more  easily  have  attached 
them ;"  especially  why  he  had  not  rather  arrested  than 
assassinated  the  admiral,  "  being  in  his  bed,  lamed 
both  in  the  right  hand  and  the  left,  and  lying  in  dan- 
ger under  the  care  of  surgeons,  being  also  guarded 
about  his  private  house  by  a  number  of  his  majesty's 


*  Digges,  p.  241.242. 

t  Id.    "  The  Council  to  Walsingham,"  p.  247. 

i  In  the"  Instructions  to  llenrye  Killygrewe,  Esq.,"  Elizabeth's  en- 
voy in  Scotland,  issued  immediately  after  the  massacre,  it  is  called 
"  the  great  murder,"  "the  cruel  innnk'rin;  of  so  mauie  in  Paris  :"  and 
his  orders  are  lo  express  to  the  regent,  in  the  queen's  iiatne,"  that  we  are 
afrnide,  and  in  a  manner  perl'ectlie  doe  see,  Ikat  ihts  has  bene premedi- 
taied  and  minded  nf  long  ty-ne  before."  These  instructions  were  com- 
municated to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  by  their  learned  secretary,  Sir 
Henry  Ellis,  F.R.S.  (to  whose  kindness  we  are  indebted  for  our  know- 
ledge of  them),  and  are  primed  in  vol.  xxii.  of  the  Archwologia. 

^  Digges,  p.  253. 


46  walsingham's  [ch.  xi. 

guard  1"  Charles  answered,  "  seeming  with  that  kind 
of  speech  to  be  somewhat  moved, '  that  the  loss  of 
life  and  kingdom  goeth  near  to  a  prince.'  "*  Cath- 
erine, more  unabashed,  declared  that  time  was 
wanting  for  a  gentler  course ;  that,  had  it  not  been 
for  promptness  of  movement,  one  of  the  gates  of  the 
Louvre,  and  consequently  the  persons  of  the  king  and 
of  herself,  would,  Avithin  two  hours,  have  been  mas- 
tered by  the  Huguenots ;  that  the  plot  of  the  Re- 
formed was  constructed  on  the  night  of  the  admiral's 
wound;  and  that  Montgomery,  on  the  following 
morning,  appeared  in  the  suburbs  at  the  liead  of  a 
troop  of  horse,  to  await  any  favourable  movement 
within  the  city. 

A  few  plain  words  from  WalsLngham  sufficed  to 
overthrow  these  bold  assertions.  "  I  showed  her 
that  Friday,  at  night,  after  the  admiral  was  hurt,  be- 
tween nine  and  ten  of  the  clock,  the  said  count 
(Montgomery)  came  into  my  lodging,  and  among 
other  communications  he  said  that  as  he  and  those 
-of  his  religion  had  just  cause  to  be  sorry  for  the 
admiral's  hurt,  so  had  they  no  less  cause  to  rejoice 
to  see  the  king  so  careful,  as  well  for  the  curing  the 
admiral,  as  also  for  the  searching  out  of  the  party 
that  had  hurt  him.  '  No  small  argument,'  saith  he, 
'of  the  king's  sincerity:'  which  kind  of  speech  seemed 
to  be  void  of  all  conspiracy  and  miscontent- 
nient."  The  troop  of  horse  which  he  retained  in 
the  suburbs,  and  which,  it  was  averred,  was  to  aid 
in  the  insurrection,  to  overthrow  the  ten  thousand 
armed  men  who  sentinelled  the  Louvre,  and  to  put 
the  royal  family  to  death,  amounted  to  not  quite 
forty  persons ;  among  them  were  distributed  no  more 
than  four  pistols ;  and  so  confident  moreover  was 
the  leader  of  this  formidable  band  of  conspirators 
that  the  king's  protection  was  extended  over  the  Re- 
formed, that  even  on  the  "  very  morning  in  which  the 

*  Pigges,  p.  250, 


A.  I).   1572.]  DKSI'ATCHES.  47 

execution  was  done,"  his  suspicions  were  not  awa- 
kened by  the  tumult  in  the  city,  and  he  was  ignorant 
of  the  massacre  long  after  it  had  commenced.  To 
an  F^nglish  gentleman,  whom  Walsingham  had  sent 
in  his  own  name  to  inquire,  "  What  stir  there  was  in 
the  town  V  Montgomery  replied,  that  "  True  it  was, 
some  stir  was  in  the  town,  and  the  king  had  taken  so 
good  order  therein  as  all  was  appeased,  and  that  he 
had  placed  such  guards  about  the  admiral's  house  as 
he  was  in  safety."*  At  the  moment  in  which  this 
too  credulous  answer  was  delivered  to  Walsingham's 
messenger,  several  hours  must  have  elapsed  since 
the  admiral  had  perished,  through  the  treachery  of 
that  very  guard  upon  which  Montgomery  relied  for 
his  security.  And  so  far  was  tiie  tumult  from  having 
been  appeased  by  the  king's  order,  that  the  king 
had  directed  the  murderers  to  advance  upon  the 
quarter  in  which  Montgomery  lodged,  and  was  pre- 
paring to  assist  with  his  own  hands  in  the  work  of 
blood.  Not  even  the  powerful  arguments  which  De 
Thou  has  so  ably  concentrated  to  prove  the  utter  im- 
possibility of  any  conspiracy  among  the  Huguenots,! 
are  more  convincing  than  these  two  facts  advanced 
by  Walsingham  ;  and  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  borne 
in  remembrance,  that  if  the  pretext  of  a  reasonable 
belief  in  such  a  conspiracy  be  broken  down,  together 
with  it  must  fall  the  only  argument  upon  which  the 
absence  of  premeditation  in  the  massacre  can  be 
founded. 

But  listen  to  Walsingliam  in  continuation.  "  There 
is  no  regard  here  to  word,  writing,  or  edict,  be  it 
never  so  solemnly  published,  nor  to  any  protesta- 
tions made  heretofore  to  foreign  princes  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  same."*  "The  king's  own  con- 
science, so  common  a  companion  is  fear  with 
tyranny"  (it  misrht  be  Tacitus  who  was  holding  the 
pen),  "  makes  him  to  repute  all  those  of  the  Re- 

•  DiggeiJ.p.  2M,  255.  t  H".  1-  ♦  Diggea,  p.  257. 


48  ADMIRAL  COLIGNY.  [cH.  XI. 

ligion,  as  well  at  home  as  abroad,  his  enemies,  and 
so  consequently  not  to  wish  one  of  them  alive."* 
"  1  think  it  less  peril  to  live  with  them  as  enemies 
than  as  friends."!  He  then  notices  the  brutal  sport- 
iveness  v/ith  which  the  Parisians  spoke  of  the  late 
atrocities,  as  "  a  Bartholomew  breakfast  and  a  Flor- 
ence banquet  ;'"J  he  declares  that  "  they  are  here 
so  far  embrued  in  blood,  as  there  is  no  end  of  their 
cruelty ;  for  no  town  escapeth  where  any  of  the 
Religion  is  to  be  found,  without  general  murthering 
and  sacking  of  them  ;  and  yet  they  protest  all  this  to 
be  done  against  their  will,  though  it  be  evidently 
known  that  it  is  done  by  their  commandment."*^ 
And  in  another  place  he  exclaims,  "What  will  be 
the  issue  of  these  tragical  things  here  God  only 
knoweth,  but  generally  every  man  feareth  that  all 
will  go  to  ruin  !"|| 

The  last  ferocious  act  of  Charles,  which  grew  im- 
mediately out  of  the  St.  Bartholomew,  was  a  mock 
trial,  instituted  against  the  deceased  admiral  and 
his  adherents  in  the  pretended  conspiracy.  The 
sentence  passed  against  Coligny,  as  a  traitor,  in- 
volved confiscation  of  all  his  property,  perpetual  in- 
famy, and  the  suppression  of  his  name.  His  body, 
if  it  could  be  found  (and  if  that  were  not  possible, 
his  effigy),  was  to  be  drawn  on  a  hurdle  through  the 
streets,  and  gibbeted,  first  in  the  Place  de  Greve  for 
six  hours,  afterward  on  a  loftier  spot  at  Montfaucon. 
His  armorial  bearings  were  to  be  dragged  at  a 
horse's  tail  through  every  town  in  which  they  might 
have  been  set  up,  and  to  be  defaced  and  broken  in 
pieces  by  the  common  executioner;  his  statues, 
busts,  and  portraits  were  to  be  demolished  in  like 
manner.  His  chief  seat  at  Chastillon  was  to  be 
razed  to  the  ground  ;  no  building  was  ever  again  to 
be  founded  on  its  site  ;  the  trees  in  the  park  were  to 

*  Digges,  p.  257.  t  Id.  p.  558.  }  Id.  p.  267. 

$  M  p.2e9.  II  Id.  p.  282. 


A.  D.  1572.]     CAVAGNE  AND  BRIQUEMAUT.  49 

be  cut  down  to  half  their  natural  height ;  the  glebe 
was  to  be  sown  with  salt ;  and,  in  some  central  spot, 
a  column  was  to  be  erected,  bearing  on  it  this  de- 
cree engraved  in  brass.  His  children  had  escaped 
the  fury  of  the  king  during  the  massacre  ;  but  they 
were  now  proscribed,  degraded  from  their  nobility, 
declared  incapable  of  bearing  witness  in  courts  of 
law,  stripped  of  all  civil  privileges,  and  the  power 
of  holding  any  public  office,  or  of  enjoying  any  prop- 
erty within  the  limits  of  France  for  ev^r.*  An  an- 
nual public  religious  service  and  procession  was  at 
the  same  time  instituted,  to  commemorate  the  mercy 
of  Heaven  which  had  so  signally  averted  calamity 
from  the  kingdom  on  the  festival  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew.f 

It  was  not,  however,  on  the  dead  only  that  the 
vengeance  of  the  court  was  content  to  wreak  itself 
in  these  moments  of  subsidence.  Two  living  vic- 
tims also  were  provided  for  sacrifice.  Cavagne,  a 
counsellor  of  the  parliament  of  Toulouse,  and  Bri- 
quemaut,  who  at  seventy  years  of  age  had  retired 
from  the  profession  of  arms,  in  which  he  had  long 
served  with  honour,  were  arrested  as  Huguenots,  a 
short  time  after  the  massacre.  The  escape  of  Bri- 
quemaut  during  the  Parisian  carnage  was  attended 
with  remarkable  circumstances.  Perceiving  that 
every  outlet  was  blockaded,  and  that  the  nuirderers 
were  in  close  pursuit,  lie  stripped  off  his  clothes,  and 
throwing  himself  among  a  heap  of  bleeding  corpses, 
lay  upon  his  face  and  counterfeited  death.  His  na- 
kedness prevented  examination  and  discovery  by  the 
wretches  who  followed  in  the  train  of  the  assassins, 
to  rifle  their  fallen  victims  ;  and  at  night,  wrapping 
round  him  such  rags  as  were  near  at  hand,  he  stole 

*  IgTiobles  villnins,  rnturiers,  intestdbles,  indienes  tt  incapabUs  dt 
tenir  estats,  offices,  disunites  et  biens  en  ce  royaume.  Arrest  against 
the  admiral.     Mem.  de  I'cstat,  torn.  i.  p.  568,  <tc. 

t  De  Ttiou,  liii.  9.     Dialosus,  p.  126. 

Vol.  II.— E 


50  CAVAGNE  AND  BRIQUEMAUT.  [CH.  XI. 

away  unobserved,  and  took  refuge  at  the  house  of 
the  English  ambassador.*  There  he  found  em- 
ployment in  the  stables,  and  he  was  dressing  a  horse 
at  the  moment  in  which  he  was  recognised  and  ar- 
rested.f 

The  charge  brought  against  him  and  Cavagne  was 
participation  in  the  admiral's  conspiracy  •,%  with  the 
exception,  therefore,  of  the  merely  personal  clauses, 
their  sentence  was  similar  to  that  which  we  have 
just  recited  ;  and  De  Thou,  who  heard  it  read  to 
them,  notices  the  fortitude  with  which  Briquemaut 
listened,  notwithstanding  the  unusual  ignominy  with 
which  one  nobly  born  was  adjudged  to  the  gallows, 
till  he  found  that  in  some  of  the  penalties  his  chil- 
dren also  were  included.  "  What  have  ihei/  done  to 
merit  this  severity?"  was  the  inquiry  of  the  heart- 
broken veteran.  Between  five  and  six  in  the  eve- 
ning*^ of  the  27th  of  October,  the  sad  procession 
quitted  the  Conciergerie  for  the  Place  de  Greve. 
In  the  mouth  of  the  straw  effigy  by  which  the  ad- 
miral was  represented,  some  heartless  mocker  had 
placed  a  tooth-pick,  to  increase  the  resemblance  by 

*  Sir  Philip  Sydney,  who  was  on  his  travels  at  the  time,  was  among 
others  lo  whom  Walsinghaiii's  hotel  afforded  an  asylum.  Sirjpe,  An- 
nals of  Elizaliith,  vol.  i.  hook  i.  ch.  17. 

t  Lo  Stratafferiia,  p.  49.     De  Serres,  Commentaries,  iv.  p.  58,  &c. 

X  Henry  Stephens,  in  the  Discours  mervcilleux  de  Catherine  de  Mr- 
dicis  (if  that  trenchant  satire  be  his  c()in)iosition).  stales  llial  Brique- 
maut and  Oavagne  were  promised  their  lives,  if  they  would  admit  that 
there  had  been  a  conspiracy  ;  that  upon  their  refusal,  they  were  inef- 
fectually put  to  the  torture;  that  the  cnnri  before  which  they  were  first 
tried  acciuitled  thetn;  that  a  secfnd  and  more  compliant  tribunal  con- 
victed them  of  peculation  on  the  royal  exclie(|uer;  notwithstanding 
which  sentence  they  were  executed  as  conspirators,  xlii.  Joi-ynal  de 
Ilinri  111.,  lom.  ii.  p.  3'JO.  'I'he  atrext  against  them  in  the  T.Lm.  de 
re*7«<  expressly  coiideiiins  them  as  accomplices  of  the  admirsi,  lom.  i. 
p.  5fi6.  Walsingham  stales,  that  a  little  before  their  death  they  were 
compelled  to  sign  blaiili  papers,  on  which  confessions  of  the  conspiracy 
were  aHerw,ird  written  and  exhibited  to  some  of  the  German  princes, 
in  justification  of  the  mas.sacre.     Digges,  p.  302. 

^  Walsingliam  lo  Sir  Thomas  Siiiiih.  Uigges,  p.  278.  In  lliat  des- 
patch, Ocifibcr  22  is  given,  probably  by  an  error  of  the  press,  instead 
of  27;  and  Ihere.'ipcclive  parts  acted  by  Brn)uemaul  and  Cavagne  whilo 
on  the  scaffold  arc  directly  at  variance  with  those  assigned  to  ibcni  by 
Pe  ThoU. 


A.  D.   1572.]        CAVAGNE  AND  BRIQUEMAUT.  51 

imitutiiig  one  of  his  common  habits.*  At  the  win- 
dows of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  which  commanded  a 
near  view  of  the  scaffold,  were  assembled  Charles 
(to  whom  liis  consort  on  that  morning  had  presented 
her  first-born  child),  the  queen-mother,  and  the 
King  of  Navarre,  who  had  been  compelled  to  attend. 
A  considerable  delay  took  place,  and  some  proposal 
appears  to  have  been  made,  by  which,  even  at  the 
last  moment,  the  condemned  might  have  purchased 
their  lives,  if  they  would  have  debased  themselves 
by  treachery  and  falsehood.  When  at  length  the 
hangman  had  thrown  them  from  the  ladder,  Charles 
ordered  flambeaux  to  be  held  close  to  their  faces, 
in  order  that  he  might  distinctly  view  the  variety  of 
expression  which  each  exhibited  in  his  parting 
agony. t  Suetonius  does  not  record  a  more  fiend- 
like anecdote  of  the  worst  of  the  Ca;sai-s.|  The 
populace  imitated  the  brutality  of  their  sovereign. 
During  the  long  and  fearful  pause  wliich  had  oc- 
curred on  the  scaffold,  and  the  many  hours  through 
which  the  bound  and  defenceless  prisoners  endured 
that  lingering  expectation  far  more  bitter  than  death 
itself,  their  suffering  was  heightened  by  cruel  out- 
rages inflicted  by  the  rabble ;  who,  when  life  was 

*  De  Thou,  liii.  9.  Where,  in  one  MS.,  allusion  is  made  to  a  proverb 
Bpecifyinii  de  reliui  qn(B  siinnlatn  Jiiint,  the  rosnry  of  the  Conslahle 
Montmorency,  (he  mass-book  of  llie  (  Imiicellor  cle  I'llrtpiial,  the  .icarlet 
hat  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  and  the  loolhpick  ol'  the  admiral. 
Branldme  give.s  a  difTureril  version  ;  tlie  proverb,  he  sa)s,  w.ts  Italian, 
Diomi  prijtrda  de'  bel  gignetn  del  Principe  di  Condi,  el  delT  aninin  et. 
steccn  deW  AdmirasUn  ;  adding  thai  Coligny  always  carried  a  tooih-pick 
in  his  inonrh,  behind  his  ear,  or  stuck  in  his  beard.  UUcours  \]ix\.  \ . 
torn.  vi.  p.  333. 

t  D'aulaiU  qii'il  estoit  nuit  a  rtienre  de  Pexecutinn  (they  had  quitted 
their  (irison,  as  we  have  .seen,  bel  ween  live  and  six  o'eloik),  >ljit  aliitmer 
dcsjlamltein.uc,  el  les  Icnir  pris  de  la  potence  pour  les  voir  mieitx  mourir, 
et  cuntpmphr  U-urs  visages  et  contenaaces.  Brant6me,  Discours  Ixxviii. 
torn.  vii.  p.  206. 

}  Vet  the  inhumanity  is  heightened  by  an  odious  fact,  which  the  re- 
search of  the  master  of  Dulwich  College  has  drawn  from  a  contempo- 
rary authority.  ^Vo/i  sans  fure  des  rii  s  de  la  contcnance  de  I'un  et  de 
Cautre.    MS.  Bib.  du  Roi,  324,  St.  Germ,  f,  146. 


52  HORROR  EXCITKD  IN  ENGLAND.  [cH.  XI. 

extinct,  dragged  the  bodies  from  the  gallows,  and 
savagely  tore  them  in  pieces. 

Who  can  be  surprised  that  Walsingham  expressed 
earnest  desire  to  come  out  from  among  a  people 
like  this  !  and  that  he  long  and  eagerly  solicited  recall 
from  his  most  painful  embassy !     We  cannot  take 
our  leave  of  an  authority  to  which  we  have  been  so 
largely  indebted,  without  subjoining  a  burst  of  rude 
but  powerful  eloquence  which  the  scenes  the  envoy 
had  described  called  forth  from  his  friend  and  cor- 
respondent Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Queen  Elizabeth's 
secretary.     No  words  can  more  strongly  evince  the 
detestation  in  which  the  crime  of  the   French  court 
was  held  in  England,  notwithstanding  pohtical  inter- 
ests forbade  an  open  quarrel.     "  What  warrant  can 
the  French  make,  now  seals  and  words  of  princes 
being  traps  to  catch  innocents  and  bring  them  to 
butchery  1     If  the  admiral  and  all  those  murdered  on 
that    bloody   Bartholomew   day  were    guilty,  why 
were  the}^  not  apprehended,  imprisoned,  interrogated, 
and  judged  1     But  so  much  made  of  as  might  be, 
within  two  hours  of  the  assassination  !*     Is  that  the 
manner  to  handle  men  either  culpable  or  suspected  1 
So  is  the  journeyer  slain  by  the  robber  ;  so  is  the 
hen  of  the  fox  ;  so  the  hind  of  the  lion  ;  so  Abel  of 
Cain ;  so  the  innocent  of  the  wicked ;  so  Abner  of 
Joab!     But  grant  they  were  guilty,  they  dreamed 
treason  that  night  in  their  sleep  ;  what  did  the  inno- 
cent men,  women,  and  children  do  at  Lyons  ]     What 
did  the  sucking  children  and  their  mothers  at  Rouen 
deserve?  at  Caen?  at  Rochelle  1  What  is  done  yet 
we  have   not  heard,  but   I  think  shortly  we  shall 
hear.     Will  God,  think  you,  still  sleep?     Will  not 
their  blood  ask  vengeance  ?     Shall  not  the  earth  be 
accursed  that  hath  sucked  up  the  innocent  blood 
poured  out  like  water  upon  it  ?"t 

*  Sic  orig.  t  D>esss>  P- 262. 


A.  D.  ir)72.]     DISPERSION  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.         53 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Dispersion  of  the  Huguenots— Siege  of  I,a  Rochelle— La  Noufi  em- 
ployed to  iiegntiaie— lie  accepts  the  Conimand  of  the  Garrison — His 
Motives — He  endeavours  to  promote  Peace— The  Uoctieilois  Ministers 
oppose  him — He  resigns  his  Corrmian'l  and  withdraws — Fruitless  As- 
saults— Heroism  of  the  besieged  Women— IiielTectual  Attempt  at  lielief 
by  Monigomcry— l>i'*iiffet(ion  in  the  Royalist  Camp— The  Duke  of 
Anjou  elected  King  of  I'olanil— He  raises  the  Siege— Peace — Siege  of 
Saiiceire— Famiii!^ — Lory's  Narrative — Capitulation— Reluctant  De- 
parture of  the  ICing  of  Poland  to  his  Dominions— His  Reception  by  the 
Elector  Palatine. 

In  the  general  dispersion  of  the  Huguenots  which 
succeeded  the  recent  massacres,  those  who  had  ex- 
patriated found  refuge  in  England,  in  the  Palatinate, 
and  in  parts  of  Swisserland.  Geneva,  Basle,  and 
Berne  successively  offered  asylums  to  the  children 
of  the  admiral,  to  those  of  his  brother  D'Andelot, 
and  to  the  widow  of  Teligny  ;  and  by  the  active  lib- 
erality of  Beza  and  liis  colleagues  sufficient  funds 
were  contributed  for  tlie  support  of  numerous  other 
and  wholly  destitute  refugees.*  Many  upon  whom 
the  abandonment  of  home  and  its  deeply  rooted  chari- 
ties pressed  with  insufferable  burden  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  current  of  the  times  and  subscribed 
an  abjuration  prepared  by  the  Sorbonne  ;  while  their 
brethren,  more  firm  of  purpose,  or  less  entangled 
by  domestic  bonds,  fled  to  the  strong-holds  in  the 
Cevennes,  to  Sancerre,  INIontauban,  Nismes,  and  La 
Rochelle.  determined  upon  the  maintenance  of  their 
faith  at  all  hazards  and  under  every  extremity.f 

The  king,  meanwhile,  established  four  armies  in 
the  field.  Chastres,  Governor  of  Berri,  received  or- 
ders to  attack  Sancerre,  and  after  some  bloody  and 

*  Spon.  Hist,  de  Geneve,  torn.  J.  p.  320,  nolo, 
t  De  Tbou,  lui.  2. 

E  2 


54  DESIGNS  ON  LA  ROCHELLE.  [CH.  XII. 

fruitless  assaults*  he  converted  the  siege  into  a 
blockade.  The  Marechal  de  Villars,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded Coligny  as  admiral,  ravaged  Guyenne  and 
pressed  upon  Montauban ;  and  Nisnies  was  com- 
mitted to  the  observation  of  the  Duke  de  .loyeuse. 
But  La  Rochelle  was  on  many  accounts  the  city 
which  excited  most  powerful  interest,  and  upon  its 
possession  appeared  to  depend  the  fortunes  of  the 
contending  parties.  Its  extent,  which  rendered  it 
capable  of  admitting  a  very  large  and  powerful  force, 
the  strength  of  its  fortifications,  and  the  facility  of 
intercourse  which  its  maritime  site  afforded  with  FJng- 
land  (a  state  always  regarded  with  jealousy,  and 
more  especially  to  be  suspected  at  the  present  mo- 
ment), were  so  many  reasons  which  prompted  the 
court  to  wish  for  its  speedy  reduction  :  and  while  a 
sufficient  armament  was  gathering  in  order  to  com- 
pel obedience,  no  stratagem  of  diplomacy  was 
omitted  by  which  it  might  be  obtained  through  per- 
suasion. Long  before  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, the  neighbouring  port  of  Brouage  had  been 
occupied  by  a  fleet  under  the  conmiand  of  Filippo 
Strozzi  (a  brave  member  of  a  distinguished  Italian 
family  engaged  in  the  naval  service  of  France  from 
the  time  of  Henry  II.)  and  of  the  Baron  de  la  Garde, 
than  whom  no  more  skilful  mariner,  nor  more  deadly 
enemy  of  the  Huguenots,  existed. f     It  was  upon  this 


*  The  failure  of  an  assault  upon  whii-h  great  hope  of  success  had 
been  rested  is  mentioned  by  the  king  in  a  despatch  to  La  Motte  Fene- 
lon,  his  arrjbasMad(jr  in  England,  dated  Marcli  21,1573.  'I  he  corres- 
pondence with  tliat  minister,  primed  by  La  Laliorcnr,  in  the  iii.  vol.  of 
the  Jl/«»7).  rfe  rastcinau.an'ords  invaluable  materials  for  the  two  years 
and  a  half  which  it  embrac.s,  Iroin  1572  to  Oct.  1575.  The  despatch 
noticed  .iliove  will  be  found  at  p.  '.i\\. 

t  Anioine  Escaliri,  Haron  do  la  (;arde,  was  originally  known  as  Le 
(,'apilaine  Poliii,  under  which  name  lie  had  been  concerned  in  an  early 
persecution.  .S'estant  uii  peu  tropcmport"-  rigoreuserncnt  en  Provence, 
conlre  les  ll<''r«/iiiincs  de  Meriiidul  cl  Cabricrcs  (car  11  liayssoit  morlclle- 
mcnt  ces  pens  Id)  il  encourtit  la  male  grace  de  son  Roy,  dont  il  en  garda 
la  prison  long  leinps.  Hraiilfliiif,  Dismura  Ixxv.  loiii.  vi.  p.  158. 
What  must  have  been  the  enormities  of  one  thought  worthy  of  dis- 
plca<»ure  for  transactions  in  which  the  merciless  D'Opi)eda  escaped 


A.D.  1572.]    DECLARATION  OF  THE  ROCHELLOIS.      65 

force  that  the  king',  in  the  first  instance,  relied  for 
success,  wlien  he  coninianded  the  Rochellois  to  ad- 
mit within  their  walls  Biron  his  *Tovernor  of  Sain- 
tonge,  and  to  close  tlieir  gates  against  the  fugitive 
rebels  ;  promising  them,  as  a  reward  for  obedience, 
the  privilege  of  assembling  for  pubhc  worship,  which 
was  denied  elsewhere  throughout  his  dominions. 

Undeceived  by  this  hollow  assurance,  the  Rochel- 
lois  at  first  thought  it  their  interest  to  temporize ; 
and  without  absolutely  rejecting  these  ofiVrs,  they 
demanded,  as  a  preliminary,  the  withdrawal  of  the 
fleet  from  Brouage,  and  of  the  troops  who  were 
assembling  in  their  neighbourhood.  Tiieir  ordinary 
population  was  already  increased  by  nearly  fifty  per- 
sonages of  noble  birth,  by  about  an  equal  number  of 
ministers,  and  by  1.^)00  soldiers,  resolutely  prepared 
to  defend  the  asylum  in  whicli  they  had  found  re- 
fuge ;*  and  in  case  of  open  hostilities  tiiey  had  good 
reason  to  expect  an  auxiliary  force  from  England, 
under  the  command  of  Montgomery.  After  a  few 
days  therefore  had  passed,  they  ventured 
upon  a  mucii  less  reserved  declaration,  in  ^^'"'  ^^' 
which  they  stigmatized  the  massacre  as  an  unheard- 
of  cruelty,  refused  credence  to  tlie  king's  avowal  of 
himself  as  its  author,  and  charged  the  crime  alto- 
gether upon  the  Guises.  No  argument,  they  said, 
could  ever  persuade  them  that  the  best  and  most 
merciful  of  kings  could  have  perpetrated  so  foul  an 
enormity.  For,  to  couple  infamy  with  his  name  by 
athrming  that  which  he  had  at  first  denied  ;  to  pro- 
claim that  he  would  keep  the  last  peace  unbroken, 
and  yet  by  the  same  edict  to  prohibit  the  celebration 
of  public  worship  on  pain  of  death  ;  during  the  cele- 
bration of  his  sister's  nuptials  to  violate   the   sa- 

unliarmcil  1  Neverlholess,  L:i  l.aboreur  has  spoken  of  De  la  Onrde  in 
high  terms  of  praiw  and  witlioiu  altemiHlng  to  exientiate  the  airoci- 
tie8  0l'  Cabrieres  anil  Moniidol,  he  altritiutes  the  haron's  share  in  them 
10  the  blindness  ol"  proressioual  obotlieiice.  AUdit.  aux  Mem.  de  Ca»- 
lelnau,  toin.  ii.  p.  5. 
*  De  Tbou,  lili.  10. 


66  DECLARATION  OF  THE  ROCHELLOIS.    [cH.  XII. 

credness  both  of  the  hearth  and  of  the  altar,  of 
hospitality  and  of  religion,  by  the  carnage  of  so 
many  of  his  noblest  and  bravest  subjects,  of  women 
and  children,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages ;  what  was 
that  but  to  blow  hot  and  cold  with  the  same  breath  !* 
If  any  one  should  dare  to  affirm  that  their  most  ex- 
cellent king  had  thus  deeply  plunged  himself  in 
wickedness,  every  man  among  them  was  prepared 
to  throw  the  impudent  falsehood  in  the  asserter's 
teeth,  and  to  maintain  the  royal  dignity  and  inno- 
cence by  his  sword.  In  fine,  ready  as  they  were  at 
all  times  to  manifest  obedience  to  their  sovereign, 
they  felt  it  their  duty  to  be  especially  cautious,  in 
the  present  disturbed  state  of  their  country,  when 
the  Guises  not  only  hunted  down  guiltless  men,  but 
offered  violence  even  to  the  throne  itself;  and  they 
should  consider  it  the  act  of  madmen,  if,  after  the 
recent  great  calamity,  they  tamely  off'ered  their 
throats,  to  be  butchered  like  sheep  by  foreigners 
thirsting  for  French  blood,  and  enemies  both  to  the 
king  and  to  his  kingdom. f 

Notwithstanding  the  boldness  of  this  declaration, 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Rochellois  might  have 
consented  to  treat  with  Biron,  whose  inclination  to 
their  faith  was  well  known ;  and  who,  it  was  indeed 
believed,  would  have  been  numbered  among  the  vic- 
tims of  the  massacre  at  Paris,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
wise  precaution  with  which  he  had  fortified  himself 
beforehand  in  the  arsenal. {  But  some  unseasonable 
menaces  to  themselves  from  the  Baron  de  la  Garde, 
and  intelligence  of  numerous  savage  outrages  com- 
mitted in  other  parts  of  France,  even  in  towns 
which  had  received  assurance  of  the  royal  protec- 
tion, renewed  those  suspicions  which  the  character 

*  This  "  lame  and  impotent  conclusion"  is  cliargeable  upon  De  Tliou 
from  whom  we  are  translating,  lie  enunicrales  the  atrocitie.s  noticed  in 
the  text,  and  then  adds,  "  quid  aliiid  esse  quam  calidum  el  rrigidum  eo- 
dem  ore  ac  spiritusimul  efllarc.  liii.  10. 

t  Id.  ibid. 

j  Bramftme,  Discowa  Ixxxiii.  torn.  vii.  p.  8. 


A.  D.   1572.]       COMMENCEMENT    OF  WAR.  67 

of  Biron  had  tended  to  allay.  Two  days  accordingly 
were  set  apart  for  solemn  fasts  ;  and  the  favour  of 
Heaven  having  been  implored,  they  disregarded  the 
conciliating  edicts  which  the  king  published  from 
time  to  time,  in  the  hope  of  lulling  their  jealousy  to 
sleep,  and  they  refused  more  than  one  offer  on  the 
part  of  Biron  to  continue  his  negotiation.* 

War  therefore  was  now  for  the  fourth  j^^^  g 
time  openly  declared  against  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  Biron  was  instructed  to  besiege  La  Ro- 
chelle.f  Pasquier,  whose  sagacity  we  have  so  fre- 
quently mentioned,  perceived  all  the  difficulties 
which  were  to  be  encountered  in  a  siege  thus  begun 
in  the  depth  of  winter,  against  a  city  covered  on  one 
side  by  the  sea  and  on  almost  all  the  others  by 
marshes ;  he  anticipated  evil  also  from  the  national 
temperament  of  his  countrymen  ;  impetuous  in  the 
outset,  inconstant  as  women  if  their  wishes  are  long 
delayed.!  Biron's  first  movements,  however,  were 
tardy,  for  a  hope  of  accommodation  was  still  cher- 
ished ;  and  it  is  not  the  least  remarkable  occurrence 
of  these  singular  times,  that  a  step  taken  by  the  king 
for  the  express  purpose  of  winning  the  Rochellois 
into  submission  furnished  them  with  their  most 
powerful  instrument  of  resistance.^ 

Whether  Charles  at  any  time  entertained  a  serious 
design  of  curbing  the  Spanish  ascendency  in  the 
Netherlands,  or  whether,  in  the  few  demonstrations 
which  he  made  to  that  effect,  his  sole  object  was  to 
encourage  the  late  admiral's  delusion,  it  is  now  im- 
possible to  decide  ;  but  he  had  intrusted  a  small  de- 


*  Davila  ascribes  the  obstinate  rejection  of  the  king's  offers  by  the 
Rorh'Ilois  to  the  secret  and  treacherous  instigation  of  Biron.  lib.  v. 
torn.  i.  p.  303. 

t  Pius  vmts  scavez  quelle  est  la  nature  cTiin  FYancoin.  qui  veut  dis 
son  entr  c  cst/e  .leivy  iCune  gorrre  cliaude,  nutrement  a  la  tongue  il  se 
ralentit  ainsi  qu'une  /'■mme.     Pasqnier,  Lf/?rp,«,  lib.  v.  torn.  i.  p.  31". 

t  Con  Vinvinre  M'ynsign.or  delta  Nua  si  provide  loro  di  Capitano  del 
quale  piu  che  iTogni  altra  cosa  erano  bisognosi.  Davila,  lib.  v.  torn.  i. 
p.  305. 


58  LA  NOliE.  [CH.  XII. 

tachment  to  a  Huguenot  officer,  Francis  Seigneur 
de  la  Noue,  of  whom  we  have  before  had  occasion  to 
make  lionourable  mention,  to  assist  Louis  of  Nassau 
in  his  operations  against  the  Dutch  frontier  towns. 
Chiefly  through  the  skill  and  courage  of  La  Noue, 
Mons  yielded  to  the  combined  arms  ;  but  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  force  with  which  he  was  left  to  garri- 
son his  conquest  obliged  him,  after  a  short  occupa- 
tion, once  more  to  surrender  it  to  the  Duke  D'Alva. 
Three  days  after  this  capitulation  had  been  signed 
occurred  the  massacre  of  Paris ;  in  which,  had  it 
not  been  for  his  seasonable  employment  elsewhere, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  La  Noue  also  would  have 
perished  among  the  great  mass  of  his  friends.  All 
hope  of  rendering  effectual  service  in  the  Nether- 
lands being  terminated  by  the  conditions  under 
which  he  had  surrendered  at  Mons,  to  remain  longer 
in  that  country  was  useless ;  to  return  to  France  was 
pregnant  with  danger.  After  a  short  period  of  doubt, 
however,  relying  on  the  honour  and  the  approved 
friendship  of  the  Duke  de  Longueville,  Governor  of 
Picardy,  he  ventured  into  that  province,  where  he 
was  kindly  and  generously  received.  When  La 
Rochelle  declined  the  king's  proposals,  Longueville 
well  knowing  the  weighty  influence  which  La  Noue 
possessed  in  that  city,  of  which  he  had  been  gov- 
ernor during  the  last  war,  and  feeling  assured  also  of 
his  moderate  and  pacific  views,  was  convinced  that 
no  more  efficacious  mediator  could  be  employed. 
With  this  hope,  he  entreated  him  to  repair  to  Paris, 
where,  on  his  introduction  to  the  king,  he  was  re- 
ceived courteously  and  confidentially.*     Charles,  as 

*  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  DuUc  de  T,onguevi!!e  cautioned  La 
NouS  respecting  llie  great  change  which  had  been  cflTecled  in  the  de- 
meanour of  Charles  since  the  massacre.  IJraniiime  repeats  the  words 
fVom  La  None's  own  lips.  "jV.  de  In  None,  odmsis  hicn,  quand  vnus 
sins  dcranl  le  liny,  d'estiesage  it parler  sagtment ;  car  vims  ne paries 
plus  it  ce  Roy  doitx,  benin  et  gracievT.  que  vmis  aves  vni  cydevant. 
II  est  tout  change :  il  a  plus  de  seviriti  a  cette  heure  an  visage,  quUl 
ii'a  jamais  eu  de  douceur."— Discours  Uxxviii,  torn,  vii.  p.  207. 


A.  D.  1572. J  LA   NOUE.  69 

an  earnest  of  future  grace  and  favour,  restored  their 
confiscated  estates  to  the  family  of  Teligiiy,  whose 
sister  La  None  had  married  ;  and  then  proposed  to 
him  a  commission  of  extraordinary  delicacy ;  no 
less  than  that  he  would  undertake  to  persuade  the 
Rochellois  into  obedience. 

To  the  just,  temperate,  and  disinterested  spirit  of 
La  None,  war,  unless  as  a  means  by  which  peace 
might  ultimately  be  secured,  was  wholly  without  at- 
traction ;  and  notwithstanding  his  great  military  tal- 
ents, and  the  glory  which  he  had  acquired  in  arms, 
no  man  was  more  unwilling  to  have  recourse  to  the 
harsh  reasoning  of  the  sword.  He  believed,  more- 
over, that  the  recent  fatal  blow  had  so  far  crushed 
the  power  of  the  Huguenots,  that  the  Rochellois 
would  be  unable  to  sustain  the  danger  which  they 
seemed  about  to  provoke.  Somewhat  also  of  natu- 
ral and  instinctive  regard  for  self-preser\'ation,  with- 
out impugnment  either  of  his  courage  or  of  his 
honour,  may  have  contributed  to  influence  his  final 
resolution.  The  tone  with  which  the  king  ad- 
dressed him  was  that  of  gentleness  and  solicitation; 
but  who  that  had  ever  approached  the  presence  of 
Charles  was  ignorant  of  his  ungovernable  ferocity  1 
What  Huguenot,  without  well-grounded  apprehen- 
sion of  the  result,  could  venture  to  oppose  the  wish 
of  a  prince  whose  garments  were  so  deeply  died  in 
the  blood  of  martyrs  ?  On  the  other  hand,  the  arti- 
fices which  had  been  employed  to  entrap  Coligny 
were  lively  warnings  to  one  so  sagacious  as  La 
None,  that  they  might  be  repeated  to  a  similar  pur- 
pose ;  and  he  preferred  dying  a  thousand  deaths,  to 
being  made  the  unwitting  tool  by  which  his  friends 
might  be  again  cajoled  and  betrayed.  Perceiving, 
then,  that  all  efforts  to  decline  a  charge  to  the  due 
execution  of  which  he  modestly  but  firmly  professed 
himself  to  be  unequal,  were  unavailing,  and  that  his 
reluctance  served  but  to  increase  the  urgency  of  the 


60  LA  NOUE  NEGOTIATES  [cH.  XII. 

king,  he  at  once,  regardless  of  all  hazard,  delivered 
himself  in  the  plainest  language;  and  demanded  a 
solemn  pledge,  that  he  should  neither  be  made  the 
bearer  of  terms  wiiich  might  compromise  his  honour, 
nor  be  used  as  the  instrument  of  any  meditated 
treachery.  Charles  was  lavish  in  protestations; 
when  indeed  was  he  otherwise  1  and  La  Noue,  as- 
sisted by  one  Guadagni,  a  Florentine,  and  a  creature  of 
the  queen-mother,  engaged  in  the  mission.  Unable 
either  to  comprehend  or  to  appreciate  tlie  unspotted 
integrity  of  his  pure  and  single-minded  agent,  the 
king  annexed  to  him  this  spy,  under  the  title  of  col- 
league ;  and  La  Noue,  whose  penetration  fully  de- 
veloped the  true  character  of  his  associate,  rejoiced 
at  bearing  with  him  a  witness  of  the  sincerity  of  his 
conduct. 

The  first  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  Rochel- 
lois,  when  they  received  advice  of  the  mission  of  La 
Noue,  was  unbounded  astonishment ;  the  second 
was  suspicion  of  treachery.  Nor  can  it  be  wondered 
at,  that  men  whose  ears  yet  painfully  retained  the 
yell  of  the  bloodhounds  whom  the)'  had  escaped,  and 
under  whose  eyes  the  chase  seemed  at  that  moment 
preparing  for  renewal,  should  be  jealous  even  of  a 
friend,  when  he  bore  the  message  of  a  perfidious  foe. 
Still  they  accepted  a  conference  which  he  proposed, 
and  their  deputies,  after  cold  salutations, 

^"^^  ^'  listened  to  the  king's  offers  ;  which  were, 
in  brief,  the  admission  of  Biron  within  their  city, 
under  a  guarantee  that  they  should  retain  all  their 
former  liberties.  When  the  envoy  had  concluded 
by  recommending,  as  his  own  advice,  that  these 
conditions  should  be  accepted,  he  was  answered  with 
grave  expressions  of  well-feigned  surprise.  "  We 
came  hither,"  replied  the  deputies,  "  in  the  expec- 
tation of  seeing  La  None ;  one  who,  a  few  years 
back,  performed  many  great  and  honourable  services 
for  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.    As  for  the  person  whom 


A.  D.   1572.]  WITH  THE  ROCHELLOIS.  6l 

we  now  meet,  he  has  indeed  some  portion  of  the  air, 
of  the  figure,  and  of  the  visage  of  our  friend,  but  we 
seek  in  vain  for  those  salutary  words  of  counsel 
which  we  have  so  often  heard  from  his  lips.  The 
real  La  Noue  never  could  have  been  so  far  corrupted 
by  court  promises  as  to  advise  submission  to  the 
persecutor  of  our  faith  and  the  murderer  of  our 
brethren."* 

However  deeply  he  might  be  touched  by  the  bit- 
terness of  these  sarcasms.  La  Noue  betrayed  no  out- 
ward signs  of  emotion,  and  on  one  point  he  was  in- 
deed sensibly  gratified  ;  that  if  the  negotiation  should 
now  fail,  the  evidence  of  Guadagni  must  acquit  him 
of  causing  the  miscarriage.  Meantime,  within  the 
city,  after  a  long  and  probably  a  turbulent  debate,  a 
conviction  of  the  unimpeaclied  integrity  of  La  Noue 
prevailed  with  the  majority  of  the  council ;  they  re- 
cognised him  as  their  former  friend  and  protector  ; 
and  earnestly  exhorting  him  not  to  abandon,  in  this 
her  desolation,  a  church  which  under  God  he  had  so 
often  before  assisted,  they  offered  three  conditions 
to  his  choice.  1st,  That  he  would  undertake  the 
command  of  their  garrison ;  2dly,  that  he  would 
live  among  them  as  a  private  citizen,  in  such  a  house 
and  on  such  revenues  as  the  means  of  their  com- 
munity could  supply ;  3dly,  that  he  would  embark 
for  England  in  a  vessel  which  they  would  immedi- 
ately equip  for  his  transport. 

These  unlooked-for  propositions  increased  his  for- 
mer perplexity.  In  what  manner  was  he  now  to 
preserve  the  fidelity  which  he  had  so  recently  en- 
gaged to  the  king,  and  at  the  same  time  to  answer 
that  call  which  he  believed  to  be  from  God  1  How 
should  he  reconcile  himself  to  the  disloyalty  of 
takingarms  against  a  sovereign  to  whom  he  had  just 
vowed  allegiance,  and  from  whom  he  had  accepted 

*  De  Thou,  liii.  12.     AmirQult,  Viede  la  Noue,  p.  76. 

Vol.  IL— F 


6s  LA  NOUE   ACCEPTS  THE  [cH.  XII. 

a  commission  1  How  should  he  satisfy  that  voice  of 
conscience  which  denounced  him  as  an  apostate  from 
his  church,  if  he  refused  to  aid  her  in  the  hour  of 
calamity  1  Nay,  more,  if,  as  seemed  too  probable, 
he  continued  to  be  the  chief  instrument  of  her  ap- 
proaching ruin  1  Agitated  by  these  and  similar 
doubts,  he  asked  permission  to  confer  with  some 
ministers,  whom  he  named  ;  and  then  taking  further 
time  for  private  meditation  and  prayer,  he  adopted  a 
course  most  remarkable,  whether  it  be  regarded  in 
itself  or  in  its  consequences. 

After  communicating  with  Guadagni,  by  whom  it 
does  not  seem  that  he  was  in  any  way  opposed,  he 
accepted  the  proffered  command  ;  and,  paradoxical 
as  it  doubtless  must  appear,  he  transferred  himself 
to  the  hostile  ranks  in  order  more  effectively  to  for- 
ward the  wishes  of  his  employer,  and  unsheathed  the 
sword  that  he  might  become  a  readier  minister  of 
peace.  To  curb  the  impetuosity  of  the  Rochellois, 
and  to  take  prompt  advantage  of  any  opening  which 
might  afford  hope  of  reconciliation,  was  his  undis- 
sembled  object  in  becoming  their  leader;  and,  how- 
ever ambiguous  and  equivocal  in  many  points  was 
the  condition  to  which  this  great  and  sudden  change 
inevitably  reduced  him,  he  emerged  from  it,  as  we 
are  assured  by  the  general  voice  of  his  contempo- 
raries, not  only  without  tarnish  to  his  honour,  but 
even  with  an  increase  of  the  confidence  reposed  in 
him  by  each  of  the  opposite  parties  whom  he  had 
served.  It  is  not  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries 
and  a  half,  that  any  attempt  must  be  hazarded  to 
rescind  this  favourable  judgment ;  but  without  a 
more  distinct  explanation  of  facts  than  we  possess, 
to  us  the  conduct  of  La  Noue  must  always  appear 
questionable.  The  path  of  duty,  inmost  cases,  is 
plainly  defined  ;  and  we  have  at  least  our  choice  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  If  our  position  be  so  en- 
tangled that  to  whatever  quarter  we  resolve  to  turn 
our  course  must  be  dubious,  the  fault  is  most  prob- 


A.  D.  ir)72.]       COMMAND  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  63 

ably  in  ourselves  ;  and  somewhere,  before,  we  have 
missed  our  way.  It  was  the  acceptance  of  the 
king's  first  charge  which  afterward  exposed  La 
Noue  to  this  perilous  collision  of  duties. 

La  Rochelle,  according  to  the  state  of  military  art 
at  the  period  of  which  we  are  treating,  was  among 
the  strongest  fortified  places  in  France.  At  the  head 
of  a  noble  bay  protected  from  every  wind,  and  so  ca- 
pacious that  all  the  navies  in  the  world  might  ride 
within  it  at  once,  its  own  smaller  harbour  had 
draught  enough  to  admit  ships  of  the  heaviest  bur- 
then. Two  forts  and  a  chain  protected  its  entrance  ; 
a  wall  of  extraordinary  massiveness,  flanked  with 
lofty  towers  at  frequent  intervals  and  surrounded 
with  a  deep  fosse,  in  some  parts  double,  enclosed  the 
whole  city  in  a  circuit  of  about  3000  paces.  The 
surrounding  country  offered  no  height  from  which 
the  works  might  be  commanded  ;  and  the  numerous 
tide-creeks  which  occur  everywhere,  except  on  the 
north,  prevented  attack  by  mining.  The  tide  filled 
the  ditches  twice  a  day,  and,  on  its  ebb,  the  water 
was  retained  by  flood-gates.  The  garrison,  at  the 
time  at  which  La  Noue  undertook  the  command, 
consisted  of  3000  choice  and  veteran  soldiers  ;  2000 
city  militia,  well  equipped,  and  not  unseasoned  :  and 
a  numerous  band  of  noble  and  gallant  oflicers,  among 
whom  the  most  distinguished  appears  to  have  been 
"  Le  Capitaine  Normand,"  of  Rouen.  The  maga- 
zines contained  a  profuse  store  of  wine,  biscuits, 
and  munitions  of  war ;  and  some  estimate  of  the 
general  means  of  defence  may  be  formed  from  the 
account  which  De  Thou  has  given  of  the  park  of  ar- 
tillery. There  were  on  the  walls,  he  says,  fifteen 
brass  cannons,  sixty  field-pieces,  and  100  of  smaller 
caliber,  most  of  which  latter  were  of  iron.  160,000 
lbs.  of  powder  had  been  already  prepared  for  their 
supply,  and  more  was  daily  manufactured.*     The 

*  Iv.  16.    Davila  varies  a  Utile  fVom  this  stdtement.    After  noticing 
the  abundant  provision  of  gunpowder,  and  the  great  number  or  muskets, 


64  TEMPER  OF  THE  ROCHELLOIS.  [cH.  XII. 

populace,  a  rough  and  hardy  race  employed  in  mari- 
time occupations,  proud  of  their  long  independence, 
conscious  of  power  from  the  events  of  the  former 
war,  and  at  once  indignant  and  alarmed  by  the  oc- 
currence of  the  recent  massacre,  were  prepared  for 
the  most  desperate  resistance.  Their  hopes  were 
keenly  excited  by  a  knowledge  of  the  strength  of 
their  city,  and  b5'^an  expectation  of  speedy  succours 
from  England.  Whenever  the  first  sail  under  Mont- 
gomery should  ajjpear  oif  the  coast,  they  felt  as- 
sured that  at  least  a  thousand  of  the  noblesse  from 
Poitou  and  Saintonge  would  gather  to  his  standard. 
By  that  aid,  by  their  own  exertions,  and,  above  all, 
by  the  favour  of  Heaven  to  a  just  cause  and  a  suf- 
fering people,  they  doubted  not  of  ultimate  victory  ; 
and  not  one  man  breathed  in  their  ranks  who  would 
have  hesitated  to  sacrifice  life  for  its  attainment. 
Every  pulpit  daily  resounded  with  the  exhortations 
of  ministers  expelled  from  their  own  peculiar  cures  ; 
whose  zeal  was  doubly  kindled  by  sorrow  for  their 
afflicted  church,  and  by  a  lively  sense  of  personal 
wrong.  It  was  no  easy  task  for  La  None  to  direct 
to  thoughts  of  peace  the  temper  of  a  population  thus 
eagerly  inflamed  and  not  unreasonably  confident. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  was  to  assume  the  command 
of  the  royalist  army  on  the  approach  of  spring  ;  and 
Biron,  willmg  to  leave  to  the  young  prince  the  whole 
glory  of  active  siege,  consumed  the  intermediate 
time  in  a  languid  occupation  of  the  surrounding 
country,  and  in  cutting  oflf  supplies  from  the  garri- 
son. During  these  operations,  numerous  mills  ad- 
joining the  city  were  destroyed,  till  one  alone  re- 
mained, which  the  Captain  Normand  was  anxious, 
on  some  account,  to  preserve  for  a  few  hours  longer, 
an  object  in  which  he  succeeded  by  a  whimsical 

arquebuses,  and  pikes  which  the  mipazines  contained,  he  adds  that  there 
were  "  nove  colulirine  di  siiiisurata  grandez/.a,  otto  camioni,  dodici 
eacri,  trenia  otto  pezzi  da  campagna,  e  piii  di  seitanta  falcoiiettie  moa- 
Bhetioni."  lib.  v.  torn.  i.  p.  302. 


A.  D.  1573.]       WHIMSICAL    STRATAGEM.  C5 

stratagem.  Towards  nightfall,  he  admitted  the 
miller  within  the  city  walls,  and  placed  a  single  sol- 
dier of  determined  courage  in  the  abandoned  tene- 
ment, instructing  him  to  deceive  the  enemy  by 
making  loud  noises  and  counterfeiting  the  tones  of 
different  voices.  To  assist  the  delusion,  Normand 
himself  called  from  the  ramparts,  urging  the  garri- 
son to  steadiness,  and  assuring  it  of  speedy  relief. 
Misled  by  these  appearances,  and  thinking  that  an 
assault  would  be  hazardous,  the  royalists  beat  a 
parley,  after  a  few  discharges  of  artillery ;  and 
whf^n  the  soldier  presented  himself,  they  granted  an 
honourable  capitulation,  in  which  the  adroit  knave, 
continuing  his  artifice  to  the  last,  with  humorous 
gravity,  expressly  stipulated  that  his  comrades 
should  share  the  terms  which  he  secured  for  him- 
self. On  taking  possession  of  the  surrendered  post, 
the  victors  discovered  to  their  astonishment  that 
the  parleyer  had  been  its  sole  occupant ;  and  irri- 
tated at  the  cheat,  they  summarily  declared  him 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  war,  and  adjudged 
him  to  be  hanged.  Through  the  interposition  of 
Biron,  the  sentence  was  commuted  to  the  galleys, 
from  which  the  prisoner  soon  afterward  found 
means  to  escape.* 

It  was  not  till  the  9th  of  February  that  the 
Duke  of  Anjou  arrived  in  the  camp ;  and  '^  " 
rarely  has  a  more  brilliant  company  been  assembled 
than  that  which  followed  in  his  train.  Of  the  royal 
blood  appeared  the  Duke  of  Alen^on,  the  King  of 
Navarre,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  the  young  Montpen- 
sier,  and  the  Bastard  of  Angoulenie  ;  and  among 
other  distinguished  names  familiar  to  our  narrative, 
may  be  noticed  the  Dukesof  Guise,  Aumale,  Longue- 
ville,  Nevers,  Bouillon,  and  Uzez  ;  the  IMarechals  de 
Cosse,  Montluc,  and  De  Retz.  One,  indeed,  was 
wanting  who  had  long  been  used  to  breathe  ven- 

*  De  Thou,  Iv.  la.    La  Popoliniere,  torn.  ii.  liv.  xxxii,  p.  127. 
¥2 


66  DEATH    OF    TAVANNES.  [cH.  XU. 

geance  against  the  Reformed,  and  who  had  vaunt- 
ingly  anticipated  the  speedy  conquest  of  La  Ro- 
chelle.  When  the  king  ordered  the  Marechal  de 
Tavannes  to  take  a  high  command  in  the  besieging 
army,  and  not  to  stop  till  the  Huguenot  race  was  ex- 
terminated,* he  was  assured  in  return  that  the  mat- 
ter might  be  considered  as  already  finished.  "  Give 
yourself  no  trouble,  sire,"  replied  Tavannes, "  I  have 
served  during  six  years  in  that  country ;  and  long  as 
it  is  since  I  have  seen  La  Rochelle,  I  reckon  upon 
its  capture  within  a  month.  Thence  I  will  clear 
my  way  to  Montauban,  which  will  scarcely  cost 
more  time  ;  and  afterward,  in  Nismes  and  Sommi- 
eres,  the  heretics  shall  look  well  to  their  con- 
sciences, and  either  recant  or  die  to  a  man.  In  a 
word,  leave  me  alone  and  I  will  answer  for  all  these 
places."! — "  Even  such,"  says  the  light-hearted 
Brantome,  "  were  the  discourses  of  King  Picrocole 
in  Rabelais,  or  the  fond  imaginations  which  the 
waking  milkmaid  dreamed  over  that  pail  which  was 
to  form  the  commencement  of  her  immeasurable 
wealth."  Tavannes  died  at  Chartres,  on  his  route 
to  join  the  army  ;  and  there  is  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  his  last  moments  exhibited  a  fearful  spec- 
tacle of  rage  and  despair.  Brant6me  affects  some 
doubt,  because  the  fact  was  communicated  to  him 
by  "  an  illustrious  Huguenot  prince,  who  had  no 
great  regard  for  the  deceased  ;"  but  he  concludes 
that,  after  all,  matters  might  be  as  they  were  repre- 
sented, since  "  God  often  sends  such  afflictions  to  the 
bloody-minded. ''''X 

Glittering  as  was  the  composition  of  the  Duke  of 

*  Nous  ne  sommespas  encore  au  b^ut  de  toiis  les  Huguenots,  btm  qve 
nova  en  ayons  fori  esclaircy  la  race.  JJranidine,  i>ji'co«rs  Ixxxii.  5. 
torn  vi  ad  Tin. 

t  Id.  ibid.  And  no  also  in  his  sou's  Memoires,  Tavannes  is  made  to 
aSKure  Ihe  king  Hint  if  he  does  but  give  La  Rochelle  dix  millcs  cnvps  de 
canon  avant  que  Vhyvcr  vienne,  n'uyani  que  les  gens  de  la  i^ille  Id 
dedans,  it  ist  a  yresumer  qiCUs  parleroient  un  autre  langage.  p.  442. 

%  Vt  supra. 


A.D.I  573.]     DEATH  OF  AUMALE.  67 

Anjou's  army,  the  very  splendour  of  its  materials 
contributed  to  render  it  unfit  for  success  ;  and  want 
of  discipline  and  of  subordination  led  to  desultory 
and  uncombined  attacks,  in  which,  after  numerous 
displays  of  individual  gallantry,  the  general  strength 
iaseubibly  wasted  away,  without  any  advance  of  the 
main  enterprise.  Among  the  earliest  heavy  losses 
which  the  royalists  sustained  was  that  of  the 
Duke  of  Auniale,  killed  by  a  cannon-ball  at  *'*''''''  ^■ 
the  close  of  a  long  sortie.*  His  death  afforded  an 
interminable  theme  to  the  preachers  in  La  Rochelle, 
who  saw  in  it  nothing  less  than  tbe  visible  hand  of 
Providence,  and  proclaimed  it  as  an  undoubted  judg- 
ment inflicted  imniediatcdy  by  God,  upoi  one  who 
had  taken  so  large  a  personal  share  in  the  murder 
of  Coligny.f 

This  delusion  is  not  without  frequent  parallels  in 
history  ;  for  man  is  ever  too  forward  to  cry  "  God 
with  us,"  and  to  identify  his  own  quarrel  with  that 
of  Heaven.  There  have  been  seasons,  indeed,  in 
which  special  Providences  have  been  appropriated 
with  as  little  regard  to  truth  and  reason,  as  the 
scoflFer,  the  skeptic,  and  tlie  infidel  exhibit  in  the 
denial  of  any  Providential  interference  at  all.  But 
it  may  be  feared  in  the  mstance  before  us,  that  the 
fierce  passions  which  had  been  engendered  or  en- 
couraged by  a  long  continuance  of  civil  discord, 
now  exercised  scarcely  less  evil  influence  over  the 
persecuted  than  over  the  persecutors  themselves ; 

♦  De  Thou,  Ivi.  4. 

t  Walsingham  writes  to  England  much  to  the  same  effect.  "  In 
the  wliich  skirmish  Duke  d' Auin&le  and  Scavigurvvcro  slain,  two  of  tiie 
chiefesi  excc'iors  of  ihi:  miinhers  here.  God,  of  his  good  hles.sing,  doth 
Rive  us  some  hope  thai  the  blood  of  (he  innooent  shall  not  be  un re- 
venged.'-—  Oiggos,  p.  332.  Even  Hraiitome  connects  the  fate  of  D'Au- 
niiile  with  his  Ibriner  cruelty.  At  I,a  Rochelle,  he  says,  the  duke  fre- 
quently expressed  a  presentiment  of  his  approaching  death.  "  Voicy  le 
lieu  ou  je  mourray '"  Snn  Li'inon  po.tsibl' le  lay  faisoit  dire.ou  qii'il 
senlil  rn  xa  ronscitnre  it  ni-  scay  quay,  pmtr  aviir  est.' un  pen  cruel 
(rtisoit  on)  au  Massacre  (te  Paris  sur  lea  Huguenots  qu'il  espargna  peu 
Discmtrs  Ixxviil.  torn.  vi.  p.  383. 


68  LA  NOTJE's  arguments  for  peace.      [cH.  XII. 

that  acuteness  of  suffering  had  produced  a  callous- 
ness of  heart  in  the  sufferers,  which  resisted  all  the 
mild  droppings  of  the  dews  of  charity;  and  that 
the  voice  of  mercy  which  the  gospel  gently  breathed 
was  overpowered  by  the  hoarse  clang  and  disso- 
nance of  arms.  The  ministers  in  La  Rochelle 
openly  preached,  not  only  that  it  would  be  sinful  to 
make  any  peace  with  the  Romanists,  but  even  that 
quarter  should  be  denied  to  prisoners  ;*  and  that 
they  should  be  hewn  in  pieces  as  Samuel  hewed  the 
Amalekites.  The  task  which  La  None  had  assigned 
to  himself  became,  therefore,  more  hopeless  every 
hour ;  and  chagrined  at  his  failure,  perhaps  not 
without  some  secret  misgiving  of  the  propriety  of 
the  course  which  he  had  chosen,f  he  was  foremost 
in  every  sortie,  and  combated  as  one  eager  to  shake 
off  a  life  which  pressed  upon  him  as  a  wearisome 
burden. 

The  arguments  with  which  he  enforced  the  ne- 
cesity  of  peace  upon  the  civic  council,  and  the 
answers  which  he  received  from  the  Huguenot 
divines,  evince  his  own  coolness  and  foresight, 
in  marked  contrast  with  the  blindness  and  the  heat 
of  his  opponents.  Military  experience  had  taught 
him  that  no  fortress  could  eventually  maintain 
itself  against  a  siege  pressed  obstinately  by  a 
powerful  enemy,  unless  it  were  relieved  by  an  army 
sufficiently  strong  either  to  create  a  diversion  or  to 
fight  a  battle.  He  perceived  that  no  hope  existed 
of  such  an  army  being  collected  by  the  Huguenots 
themselves  ;  that  the  policy  of  England  was  mani- 
festly pacific  ;  that  Germany  would  not  move  unless 
allured  by  subsidies,  which  the  Reformed  had  not 
means  of  paying;  and  that  even  if  she  were  to  take 
the  field,  without  the  hope  of  gold,  no  army  could 
traverse  the  whole  of  France,  from  the  borders  of 


*  Meurisse,  liv.  ii.  p.  384.    DeThou,lvi.5. 

t  Neutri  parti  susjtectii^,  ailn  mirnis  satis/acieru.    De  Tbou,  Ivl.  i. 


A.  D.   1573.]       OPPOSED  BY  THE  MINISTERS.  69 

the  Rhine  to  the  sea,  pass  all  the  intervening  rivers, 
and  avoid  or  gain  all  the  battles  which  would  be 
oflfered,  in  sufficient  time  to  deliver  a  city,  on  the 
counterscarp  of  which  the  enemy  had  already 
effected  a  lodgment.  The  ultimate  storm  or  sur- 
render of  La  Rochelle  appeared,  therefore,  to  be  cer- 
tain; and  her  downfall,  he  added,  would  prelude  the 
destruction  of  every  other  Reformed  Church  in  the 
kingdom ;  for  little  mercy  could  be  expected  from 
a  victorious  enemy  irritated  by  a  resistance  which 
would  be  called  obstinate  rebellion.  On  the  other 
hand,  far  gentler  treatment  mifjht  be  secured  by  ne- 
gotiation, both  for  themselves  and  for  their  brethren. 
The  rejoinder  of  the  ministers  commenced  with 
a  somewhat  tedious  exposition  of  the  unity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  which  peremptorily  forbade  the 
acceptance  of  any  advantage  for  their  own  city 
from  which  others  of  the  same  communion  should 
be  excluded.  This  position  was  fortified  by  refer- 
ence to  the  conduct  of  the  Rcubenites,  the  Gadites, 
and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh.  Located  beyond 
Jordan,  those  settlers  had  not  any  personal  interest 
in  the  struggle  which  the  other  tribes  were  main- 
taining against  the  native  Canaanites  ;  nevertheless, 
they  passed  over  armed  before  the  children  of  Israel, 
all  that  were  meet  for  war,*  neither  did  they  return 
to  their  tents  and  to  the  land  of  their  possession  till 
the  Lord  had  given  rest  to  their  brethren.^  So  also 
Uriah,  touched  with  like  attachment  for  those  of 
the  same  blood  and  faith  with  himself,  refused  to  go 
into  his  house,  and  rather  slept  at  the  door  of  the 
king's  palace,  because  the  Ark,  and  Israel,  and  Judah 
abode  in  tents,  and  the  servants  of  the  Lord  were  en- 
camped in  open  Jiclds.X  If  the  ties  of  brotherhood 
were  thus  powerful  to  knit  together  the  Jews,  how 
much  more  binding,  it  was  said,  ought  they  to  be 
between  Christians !     The  necessity  of  keeping  the 

•  DculfTonomy  iii.  18.  t  Joshua  xxii.  4, 

I  3  Samuel  xi,  11. 


70  PERSONAL  VIOLENCE  OFFERED       [(;H.   XIF. 

oath  by  which  they  were  pledged  to  the  citizens  of 
Nisnies  and  of  Montauban,  a  necessity  which  no 
one  was  hkely  to  dispute,  was  estabhshed  on 
the  Scriptural  precedent  of  Joshua's  fidelity  to 
the  Gibeonites,  because  he  had  sworn  with  them, 
notwithstanding  they  had  beguiled  hitn  into  the 
league.*  And  it  was  argued  that  even  if  La 
Rochelle  were  in  fact  reduced  to  so  great  straits 
as  had  been  too  hastily  imagined,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  God  delights  to  perform  miracles  in 
favour  of  those  who  put  their  whole  trust  in  him  ; 
that  although  women  did  eat  .their  children  during 
the  siege  of  Samaria,  nevertheless  that  city  was  de- 
livered from  its  enemies  ;  and,  if  they  might  ven- 
ture to  draw  an  authority  from  the  Apochryphal 
books,  that  Judith  spake  wisely  when  she  rebuked 
the  Governor  of  Bethulia,  for  binding  the  counsels 
of  God,  and  promising  to  surrender  unless  help 
should  come  in  five  days.f  The  last  and  the  only 
rational  argument  which  they  oflfered  was  drawn 
from  their  actual  means  of  defence,  which  were  de- 
clared to  be  amply  sufficient  to  maintain  the  siege 
for  three  months  longer. 

Little  hope  could  be  entertained  of  producing 
conviction  in  zealots  who  thus  persisted  in  apply- 
ing, without  modification,  to  the  political  affairs  of 
the  XVIth  century,  those  maxims  by  which  the 
theocracy  had  been  regulated.  One  particular  only 
appeared  to  merit  answer.  "  I  do  confide  in  God," 
replied  La  Noue,  "  with  my  whole  heart ;  but  I  am 
unable  to  obtain  other  demonstrations  of  His  will 
than  those  which  he  vouchsafes  to  afford  by  outward 
occurrences.  .He  has  given  us  reason  as  our  guide 
in  these  matters,  and  it  is  utterly  presumptuous  to 
expect  that  He  will  work  miracles  in  our  behalf, 
when  we  are  without  any  promise  that  they  shall  be 

*  Joshua  ix.  t  Judith  yiii. 


A.  D.   1573,]  TO    LA    NOUE.  71 

performed."*  This  sober  argument  was  ill  adapted 
to  the  fanaticism  of  his  auditors ;  and  one  of  the 
ministers,  La  Place,  pursued  him  from  the  council' 
chamber  to  his  lodging  with  opprobrious  epithets  ; 
and  when  he  had  exhausted  all  the  strongest  terms 
which  language  aifords  in  accusing  him  of  treache- 
rous correspondence,  he  consummated  the  outrage 
by  a  blow.  The  scene  which  ensued  reminds  us  of  a 
similar  well-known  anecdote  recorded  of  Themisto- 
cles  ;t  and  it  might  be  thought  that  the  example  of 
that  great  Athenian  had  not  been  forgotten  by  La 
Nouij,  if  the  many  Christian  graces  by  which  his 
character  is  distinguished  did  not  convince  us  that 
his  lesson  of  forbearance  had  been  derived  from  a  far 
higlier  source.  He  first  calmly  interposed,  to  pre- 
vent the  anger  of  the  by-standers  from  inflicting  sum- 
mary punishment  upon  the  offender;  and  he  then 
sent  him  home,  safely  guarded,  to  his  wife,  with  a  sug- 
gestion, that  if  her  husband  were  allowed  in  future 
to  go  abroad,  he  should  be  observed  by  a  keeper. 
La  Place  was  of  honourable  birth  and  advanced  in 
years  ;  and  it  seems  probable  that  this  violence  was 
indeed  a  symptom  of  incipient  derangement ;  for  the 
commission  of  other  furious  acts,  which  rendered 
his  insanity  unquestionable,  ere  long  occasioned  his 
deposition  from  the  ministry. J 

Despairing  of  success  in  the  object  which  he  had 
proposed  to  himself  when  he  assumed  the  command 
of  La  Rochelle,  La  Noue  now  anxiously  sought  an 
opening  by  which  he  might  escape  his  onerous  and 
unprofitable  charge.  Such  an  opportunity  was 
afforded  by  the  receipt  of  despatches  from  England, 
in  which  Montgomery  notified  his  speedy  approach 
with  a  very  considerable  armament.  Little  cordi- 
ality subsisted  between  these  two  leaders  ;  and  La 

*  Amirault,  p.  91. 

t  With  Eurybiades,  the  S|inr(an,  wlio  threatened  him  with  his  stafT, 
and  received  for  answer,  "  Strike,  hut  hear  '"  It  is  to  be  wished  that 
Herodotus  had  corroborated  Plutarch  in  this  fine  anecdote. 

{  Amirault,  p.  92,  93.    De  Thou,  Ivi.  5. 


72  DISASTERS  OF  THE  BESIEGERS.         [cH.  XII, 

Noue,  apprehensive  that  the  spirit  of  faction  by 
which  the  city  was  already  torn  asunder  might  de- 
rive increase  from  their  probable  collision,  and  sat- 
isfied that  a  fit  successor  being  at  hand,  he  could  not 
be  accused  of  abandoning  the  helm  without  the 
guidance  of  any  pilot,  determined  to  with- 
14.  2raw  :  and  demanding  a  safe-conduct  from 
the  Duke  of  Anjou,  was  received  within  his  lines.* 

The  long  protraction  of  the  siege  had  been  se- 
verely felt  in  the  royal  camp,  and  the  troops  began 
to  murmur  at  arrears  of  pay,  at  scantiness  of  sup- 
plies, and  at  the  ravages  of  disease.  To  divert 
their  minds  from  these  just  causes  of  discontent, 
an  assault  was  ordered  at  the  first  moment  at  which 
.  a   breach  became  practicable.      The  im- 

■^^"^  ■  petuosity  of  the  young  nobles  by  whom  the 
camp  Avas  thronged  occasioned  some  disorder  in 
the  leading  column  ;  and  after  a  bloody  conflict,  in 
which  the  women  of  the  garrison  displayed  a  mas- 
culine courage,  the  assailants  Avere  repulsed  with 
fearful  loss.  Two  subsequent  attempts  Avere 
equally  unsuccessful ;  and,  in  both  of  them,  these 
heroines  were  not  less  distinguished  than  before. 
Some  rolled  huge  stones  from  the  ramparts  ;  others 
scattered  grenades  upon  the  assailants  ;  part  fought 
hand  to  hand  with  lances ;  a  few  even  descended 

*  De  Thou,  ibid.  Davila  has  described  the  rctirennetit  of  La  NouS 
very  much  as  if  he  wished  it  to  be  considered  an  act  of  desertion,  lib. 
T.  torn.  i.  p.  307  ;  and  there  are  some  expressions  in  Walsinghain's  des- 
patches which  give  it  an  smbignons  ajipearance.  He  writes,  that  he 
has  heard  "La  NoiiS  escaped  very  hardly  out  of  the  town,  with  the 
safety  of  his  life."— Digses,  p.  344.  And  again,  that  the  Rochellois  "  as 
■  yet  continue  still  resolute  never  to  yield,  notwithsianding  I,a  Noun's 
abandoning  of  them  I  am  very  sorry  to  condenm  that  gentleman, 
though  he  be  very  generally  condemned  by  others,  until  I  hear  what  he 
can  say  for  himself  If  he  be  not  well  able  to  excuse  this  his  doing  in 
this  behalf,  1  will  learn  thereby  the  less  to  build  upon  any  man,  who  I 
perceive,  when  Ood  wIMidrawelh  His  slaying  hand,  are  more  weak  than 
weakness  itself  This  example,  therefore,  and  others,  are  lo  teach  us 
to  build  upon  God   and  to  weigh  man  as  he  is." — p.  345. 

The  kins,  in  a  despatch  to  La  Moile  Fenelon,  expresses  great  sails- 
fliction  at  the  step  which  La  NouO  had  taken,  Oarroainndenee  in  ^tiL 
ill.  df  Afdm,  de  Owtelnau,  {(.  310. 


A.  D.    1573.]  DEATH  OF  COSSEINS.  73 

into  the  ditch,  to  terminate  the  sufferings  of  the 
wounded  or  to  spoil  the  dead ;  and  in  every  inter- 
val during  which  a  brief  pause  in  the  thunder  of  the 
artillery  permitted  any  other  sound  to  be  distin- 
guished, their  voices  were  heard  loudly  and  bitterly 
inveighing  against  the  combatants  with  whom  they 
were  engaged.*  Brilliant  as  were  these  successes, 
they  pei'haps  occasioned  less  joy  in  the  garrison 
than  the  death  of  one  individual  who  fell  soon  after 
them.  "  Cosseins,"  says  Brantome  (whom  on  this 
occasion  we  may  implicitly  trust,  for  he  was  pres- 
ent during  the  whole  siege,  and  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  person  of  whom  he  is  speak- 
ing), "  was  grievously  depressed  after  the  massacre 
of  Paris.  His  conduct  at  La  Rochelle  evinced  that 
he  was  bowed  down  with  melancholy  and  remorse  ; 
and  more  than  once  he  avowed  to  his  friends  a  pre- 
sentiment of  his  approaching  end.  On  the  night 
which  proved  fatal  to  him,  he  had  been  ordered  to 
make  a  reconnoissance  of  an  obscure  spot,  from 
which  the  enemy  seldom  fired  ;  and,  indeed,  during 
that  whole  night  not  more  than  two  arquebuses 
were  discharged,  the  contents  of  one  of  which  he 
received.  When  the  shot  struck  him,  he  cursed  the 
remembrance  of  the  St.  Bartholomew,  and  died 
within  two  days  afterward.  The  king,  notwith- 
standing the  great  services  which  he  had  formerly 
rendered,  received  the  intelligence  of  his  loss  un- 
concernedly, and  spoke  before  the  whole  court 
coarsely  and  contemptuouslyf  of  the  want  of  spirit 
which  he  had  shown,  and  of  the  difficulties  which 
he  had  constantly  suggested  when  any  project  of 
attack  was  offered  by  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  Those 
difficulties,"  adds  Brantome,  "  most  probably  arose 
from  superior  military  knowledge,  and  from  a  per- 

*  DeThou.lvi.S,  7,  9. 

t  "  U  rVy  a  mcinsirr  plusde  eacur  qu'une  putain''''—%isant  de  cesmott 
—  Discours  Ixxxix.  11,  torn.  vii.  p.  423. 

Vol.  II.— G 


74  APPEARANCE  OF  MONTGOMERY.       [cH.  XII. 

ception  of  the  gross  faults  which  were  hourly  com- 
mitted."* 

"1  2"        ^^^  ^^^^  under  Montgomery,  amounting 

^"  "  to  fifty-three  sail,  at  length  appeared  in  the 
bay  ;  their  numbers,  indeed,  were  greater  than  those 
of  the  royalists,  but  the  vessels  were  much  inferior 
in  equipment  and  sea-worthiness,  and  the  crews  in 
discipline.  Twelve  hundred  armed  men  were  on 
board  ;  a  motley  gathering  of  French,  Belgians,  and 
English ;  the  last  of  whom  were  declared  by  Eliza- 
beth, when  the  ambassador  of  Charles  remonstrated 
upon  her  having  permitted  their  embarkation,  to  be 
no  other  than  thieves  and  outlaws,  whom  she  should 
gladly  see  executed  for  piracy.f  It  is  probable  that 
her  declaration  was  not  very  remote  from  truth  ;  for 
Montgomery,  influenced  no  doubt  by  want  of  confi- 
dence in  his  followers,  notwithstanding  he  possessed 
the  advantage  both  of  wind  and  tide,  declined  any 
attempt  to  enter  the  harbour  of  La  Rochelle,  avoided 
an  engagement,  and  contented  himself  with  landing 
and  throwing  up  intrenchments  at  Belle  Isle,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Loire. 

It  was  from  disaffection  in  his  own  ranks,  rather 
than  from  any  increase  of  strength  in  those  of  his 
enemy,  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou's  chief  difficulty  now 
arose.  His  younger  brother,  the  Duke  of  Alengon, 
either  jealous  of  a  superior,  or  sincere  in  the  deep 
regret  which  he  had  ever  expressed  for  the  murder  of 
Coligny,  who  liad  been  his  friend,  was  actively  em- 
ployed in  the  formation  of  a  dangerous  party.  There 
were  many  of  high  rank  in  the  camp  who,  having 
long  ill-brooked  the  ascendency  of  Catherine  and  the 
Guises,  regarded  the  late  massacre  with  horror  ;  and 
a  union  of  these  PoJiiiqucs,  as  they  were  termed, 
with  the  Bourbon  princes  and  the  Huguenots,  was 
negotiated  by  Henry  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Vi- 

*  Id.  ibid.  t  De  Thou,  M.  6. 


A.  D.  1573.]       WISE  ADVICE  OF  LA  NOUE.  75 

comte  de  Turenne:*  a  youth  who  at  seventeen  years 
of  age  appears  to  have  been  a  marvel  both  of  enter- 
prise and  of  sagacity.  The  projects,  nevertheless, 
suggested  from  time  to  time  by  Alen^on  and  his  fac- 
tion, were  rash  and  perilous  ;  and  but  for  the  sound 
discretion  of  La  Noue,  to  whom  they  were  commu- 
nicated, might  have  led  to  their  speedy  destruction. 
At  one  moment  it  was  resolved  to  attack  the  royal 
fleet ;  after  which  Alen§on  was  to  declare  himself 
protector  of  the  Religion.  A  yet  wilder  scheme 
was  to  throw  themselves  into  Montgomery's  ships, 
and  to  seek  an  asylum  in  England.  When  this  pro- 
posal was  first  opened  at  a  council  of  the  leaders 
assembled  on  horseback  near  the  camp,  it  was 
strongly  and  peremptorily  rejected  by  La  Noue. 
How,  he  inquired,  could  they  first  ascertain  the  feel- 
ings of  the  English  sailors  ? — or  how,  supposing  they 
should  be  cordially  received  by  them,  could  they 
answer  for  the  intentions  of  Elizabeth  herself  T  Was 
it  likely  that  she,  who  had  always  cultivated  peace, 
would  embarrass  herself  in  war  to  gratify  their  dis- 
content, more  especially  at  a  moment  in  which  she 
had  just  renewed  her  ancient  alliance  with  France  1 
Would  it  not  derogate  from  their  illustrious  birth 
and  quality] — might  it  not  hazard  both  their  lives 
and  their  honour,  if  they  wandered  into  foreign  states 
as  fugitives  and  suppliants  ?  Doubtless  no  princess 
in  the  world  exceeded  the  Queen  of  England  in  cour- 
tesy, but  might  not  political  relations  compel  her 
either  to  refuse  them  admission  to  her  presence,  or, 
if  she  did  admit  them,  to  offer  some  reprimand  which 
it  would  ill  become  them  to  endure  1  Even  granting 
that  she  might  afford  succour,  it  must  be  given 
scantily  and  by  stealth  ;  and  it  must  be  such  as 
would  in  the  end  rather  mar  than  assist  both  their 
reputation  and  their  designs.  His  advice,  therefore, 
was,  that  being  assured  of  each  other's  fidelity,  they 

*  Father  of  the  great  Mar^chal  de  Turenne,  and  himself  afterward 
one  of  the  most  disiinguiahed  generals  in  the  service  of  Henry  IV. 


76  PEACE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  [CH.  XIL 

should  await  a  more  favourable  season  before  they 
openly  declared  themselves.  These  arguments  of 
the  peace-maker  were  unanswerable,  and  for  awhile 
his  gray-haired  wisdom  was  listened  to  and  obeyed. 
In  a  ninth  and  final  assault,  the  royalists, 
"^^  ■  having  been  led  five  times  to  the  breach, 
were  as  often  driven  back,  after  piling  it  with  their 
dead;  and  the  Uuke  of  Anjou,  thenceforward  aban- 
doning every  hope  of  winning  the  city,  looked  only 
for  some  excuse  which  might  allow  him  to  raise  the 
siege  -without  dishonour.  The  seasonable  announce- 
ment of  his  election  to  the  throne  of  Poland  permit- 
ted a  negotiation,  in  which  it  was  not  necessary  that 
defeat  should  be  confessed  ;  and  after  a  brief  show 
of  further  hostility,  he  opened  conferences  with  the 
governor.  The  treaty  approached  the  close  which 
he  desired,  when  one  of  the  unforeseen  chances  of 
war  nearly  terminated  his  career.  While,  accompa- 
nied by  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Duke  of  Alen- 
9on,  he  was  going  round  the  trenches,  two  small 
pieces  of  ordnance  were  discharged  from  the  ram- 
parts. The  contents  of  one  of  them  struck  him  in 
the  neck,  the  left  hand,  and  the  thigh ;  but  the  bullets, 
being  small,  were  spent,  and  he  escaped  uninjured. 
La  Garde,  one  of  his  favourite  attendants,  perceived 
the  flash  of  the  second  cannon  in  time  to  throw 
himself  before  his  master ;  and  he  received  a  se- 
vere wound,  which,  but  for  the  rare  skill  of  the  sur- 
geon, and,  as  was  also  believed,  for  the  employment 
of  charms,*  would  have  proved  mortal.  On  the  10th 
of  July,  Biron  was  admitted  into  La  Rochelle,  and 
proclaimed  the  terms  of  peace.  They  declared  a 
general  amnesty  for  the  past ;  a  free  permission  for 
the  exercise  of  the  Reformed  worship  within  the 
cities  of  Nismes,  Montauban,  and  La  Rochelle  ;  an 

*  Posni  letkaliter  in  prcecordiis  ichis  est,  quo  ex  vulnere  raro  medico- 
rvm  studio  et  incantamaitis,  ut  creditur,  curatus,  convaluit.  De 
Tbou,  Ivi.  10. 


A.  D.  1573.]     PEACE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.         77 

annulment  of  all  compulsory  recantations,  and  of  all 
judicial  sentences  passed  against  the  Huguenots 
during  the  late  war ;  and  a  restoration  of  any  dignities 
and  offices  of  which  they  might  have  been  deprived. 
The  three  cities,  in  return,  consented,  without  any 
impeachment  of  their  former  immunities,  to  receive 
governors  appointed  by  the  king,  provided  they  were 
free  from  suspicion  ;  and  for  the  next  two  years  to 
send  four  of  the  chief  inhabitants  of  each,  selected 
at  the  royal  pleasure,  to  reside  as  hostages  at  the 
court. 

Thus,  after  nine  months'  investment  by  a  mighty 
host,  composed  of  the  best  troops  and  the  chief  no- 
bility of  France  ;  the  loss  of  40,000  men  by  disease 
and  casualty,  among  whom  were  numbered  sixty 
officers  of  distinction  ;  and  a  ruinous  expenditure 
both  of  stores  and  money,*  the  king  was  forced  to 
compromise  with  La  Rochelle.  The  gallantry  of 
the  defence  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated  ;  and 
yet,  but  for  w^ant  of  union  and  of  military  skill 
among  the  besiegers,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  a 
■widely  different  result  would  have  verified  the  prog- 
nostic and  fully  justified  the  advice  of  La  Noue.f 

*  De  Thou,  Ivi.  10.  Davila  reduces  tlie  loss  to  one-half  De  Thou'.s  num. 
ber,  lib.  V.  lorn.  i. )).  309.  Respecting  the  officers,  Pasquier  expresses  him- 
self in  terms  which  perhap.s  bear  a  covert  allusion  to  the  share  of  the  Duke 
d'Aumile  and  of  Cosseins  in  the  St.  Barlholotncw.  Nos  principaux 
Utnurs  Old  esti  tuez. — Lett.  liv.  v.  torn.  i.  p.  318.  Very  copious  details  of 
this  siege  of  La  Rochelle  may  be  found  in  La  Popeiiniere,  liv.  xx.xi.  ii. 
iii.  IV.  and  v. 

t  De  Thou,  who  is  very  far  from  being  an  injudicious  recorder  of  in- 
discriminate marvels,  notices  a  remarkable  fact,  which  we  can  little  be 
surprised  that  the  Huguenots  interpreted  as  a  special  providence  exer- 
cised in  their  behalf.  During  the  whole  course  of  the  siege,  an  unusual 
quantity  of  shellfish  (surdnnes,  ostreorum  sen  pectjinctilorian  id  utnus 
est)  supplied  the  poorer  inhabitants  with  abundant  food  ;  and  at  the  very 
moment  alter  the  peace  they  disappeared.  Ivi.  10.  The  naturalists  of 
the  day  explained  tins  singular  occurrence,  by  slating  that  the  shellfish 
■were  driven  into  the  harbour  by  the  shock  of  the  caimunade.  La  Pope- 
iiniere, toin.  ii.  liv.  XXXV.  p.  173.  But  it  was  employed  by  one  of  our 
own  divines  as  a  good  "  tesllHcation  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  would  leave 
a  remnant,  even  a  seed  of  His  faithful  in  that  land." — Lectuie  xv.  de- 
livered at  Oxford  by  (Archbishopi  Abbot,  cited  by  Strype,  Annals  <y 
Elizabeth,  vol.  u.  book  i.  ch.  36. 

G  2 


78  SIEGE  OF  SANCERRE.  [cH.  XH. 

Quod  optanti  divum  promittere  nemo 
Auderet,  volvcnda  dies,  en,  attulit  ultra. 

At  Sancerre,  which  had  not  been  included  in  the 
treaty  of  La  Rochelle,  hostihties  were  further  pro- 
longed.    That  devoted  city,  after  its  siege  had  been 
converted  into  a  blockade,  endured  for  a  consider- 
able time  the  extremities  of  a  famine,  not  less  severe 
than  those  which  once  desolated  Saguntum  and  Nu- 
mantia ;  and  which  renewed  the  horrors  recorded 
of  Samaria  and  of  Jerusalem,  when  afflicted  by  a 
similar  calamity.     Not  many  more  than  eighty  of 
its  inhabitants  fell  in  combat,  but  those  who  perished 
by  want  of  food  exceeded  five  hundred  :  so  that  the 
famine,  during  its  six  weeks'    continuance,  killed 
more  than  six  times  as  many  as  fell  beneath  the 
sword   during  seven    months   and  a  half   of  war. 
Still  unbroken  in  their  constancy,  the  citizens  con- 
tinued to  resist,  and  not  a  whisper  was  ever  breathed 
which  hinted  at  surrender.     The  ministers  took  an 
equal  share  in  the  common  toil ;  cheerfully  exposed 
their  persons  to  the  general  danger,  and  never  for 
one  evening  omitted  the  service  of  public  prayer 
and  exhortation.     Among  those  most  distinguished 
for  activity  was  Jean  de  Lery,  pastor  of  La  Charite, 
the  former  historian  of  Villcgagnon's  Expedition  to 
Brazil,*  and  the  journalist  from  whose  pen  we  de- 
rive our  knowledge  of  the  daily  occurrences  of  this 
siege. f     To  his  experience  in  America  the  garrison 
was  indebted  for  a  useful  suggestion,  whicli  con- 
tributed greatly  to  its  relief.     Instead  of  sleeping 
on  the  bare  ground,  exposed  to  cold,  vermin,  and 
unwholesome  damps,  the  soldiers  not  on  guard  sus- 
pended their  hanunocks  from   poles  fixed  beneath 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  68. 

t  lb.  Histoire  vxemorable  de  la  ViUe  dc  Sancerre,  contcnant  k.t  En- 
trcprises.  Siege,  Aj'proches,  Bateriox,  Assaio:,ct  antres  efforts  des  as- 
tiegeans  :  Us  resistances,  fails  magnanimes,  la  famine  extreme  et 
dclivrance  notable  des  assicg^s.  Le  nombre  des  coups  de  cations  par 
journees  disttngiices.  Le  Catalogue  des  morU  et  blcssez  sont  a  la  Jin 
du  Itvre.     Sttie  loco,  1574. 


A.  D.   1573.]  FAMINE  AT  SANCERRE.  79 

the  breastwork  of  the  ramparts,  after  the  fashion 
of  the  Brazilians  in  their  native  forests.*  To  ex- 
tract Lery's  account  of  the  fearful  crime  to  which 
we  have  already  made  allusion,  and  of  the  certainty 
of  the  commission  of  which,  himself,  unhappily,  re- 
ceived too  assured  ocular  testimony,  would  be  un- 
necessarily painful.  So  great  was  the  horror  which 
it  excited  amid  the  starving  population,  that  the 
unnatural  parents  were  condemned  to  death  :  the 
father  was  burned  alive,  and  the  mother  and  a 
wretched  beldam  residing  witli  them,  who  had 
prompted  the  deed  and  overcome  their  scruples, 
were  strangled  at  the  gibbet. f 

In  the  remainder  of  Lery's  narrative,  we  know 
not  whether  more  to  commiserate  the  destitution 
which  compelled  recourse  to  the  several  expedients 
which  he  has  described,  or  to  admire  the  mibroken 
cheerfulness  and  equanimity  with  which  he  records 
his  sufferings.  While  their  magazines  were  yet 
unexhausted,  the  garrison  was  one  day  engaged  with 
its  enemies  for  the  possession  of  a  luxury.  Dur- 
ing a  long  cannonade,  five  deer,  terrified  by  the 
thunder  of  artillery,  dashed  from  a  neighbouring 
wood  through  the  lines,  and  penetrated  to  the  fosse. 
One  of  them  was  immediately  shot  and  carried  into 
the  city;  another  occasioned  a  long  and  bloody 
contest,  and  the  prize  was  not  won  by  the  besiegers 
without  the  sacrifice  of  many  lives.  Its  loss  was 
avenged  by  a  sarcasm,  in  which  Lery  remarks  that 
the  Romanists  ate  the  venison  with  right  good-will, 
notwithstanding  the  season  was  Lent. J  But  alas  ! 
a  struggle  was  soon  about  to  commence  for  the 
mere  support  of  nature.  The  carte  (if  we  may  use 
that  term  without  an  appearance  of  levity  unbefit- 


*  Histoire  de  Sanccrre,  p.  83. 

t  Id.  p.  146.  It  is  no  slight  extenuation  that  murder  was  not  imputed 
to  any  of  the  parties.  The  child,  three  years  of  age,  was  said  to  have 
died  naturally,  if  death  resulting  from  famine  may  be  called  nattu'al. 

t  Id.  p.  88. 


80  FAMINE  AT  SANCERRE.  [cH.  XIT. 

ting  so  melancholy  a  narrative)  which  Lery  has  pre- 
served is  not  a  little  curious,  as  showing  the  order 
in  which  unusual  and  revolting  substances  were 
applied  to  the  purposes  of  food.  Strange  to  say, 
their  various  recommendations  to  the  palate  are 
explained  in  it,  with  as  much  fulness  and  precision 
as  would  be  employed  by  a  professed  gastronomist 
in  advertising  some  newly  discovered  dainty.  An 
ass  was  the  first  animal  not  ordinarily  eaten  which 
was  driven  to  the  shambles,  and  its  flesh  is  pro- 
nounced inferior  to  that  of  the  horse  ;  then  cats, 
rats,  moles,  and  mice  succeeded.  Of  dogs,  the 
greyhound  was  considered  the  most  delicate  ;  and 
unweaned  puppies  were  ranked  as  equal  to  kid- 
lings  and  sucking  pigs.  The  skins  of  animals, 
scraped  and  macerated  in  water,  appear  to  have 
been  held  in  great  esteem  ;  and  when  those  fresher 
viands  were  exhausted,  family  archives  were  ran- 
sacked to  furnish  edible  parchments  ;  and  title-deeds 
more  than  a  century  old  were  sacrificed  to  the 
cravings  of  appetite.  "  Often,"  says  Lery,  "  have  I 
read  engrossed  characters  uneffaced  by  cooking,  on 
the  morsel  which  was  about  to  be  devoured  with 
insatiable  eagerness."* 

*  The  greater  part  of  Lery's  xth  chapter  maybe  termed  a  Cookery 
Book  for  the  Besieged.  Tlie  following  are  some  of  its  notices,  which, 
as  his  volume  is  of  rare  occurrence,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  transcribe.    Un 

Asne fut  trouve  bon  de  lous  ceux  ()ni  en  maiigerent,  tant  bouilli  que 

rosti,  et  mis  en  )):isie,  mais  sur  tout  le  foye  rosti  avec  clonx  de  girotle  fut 
troiivecomme  un  foye  de  veau. ..  -Orje  dirny  ici  que  la  chair  de  clieval. 
par  le  rapport  de  ceux  qtii  I'ont  mieu.v  gouslifee,  est  meilleure  que  celle 
d'Asnes,  nyde  Mulcts.  <'i;r  encore  qu'elle  soil  plus  niolassc  crue,quand 
die  est  cuiie,  die  est  plus  ferme:  ot  convieut  mieux  d  son  naturel 
d'esire  bouillie  que  roslie.  Que  si  on  veut  que  le  potage  en  soit  bon,  soit 
qu'oii  la  meite  au  pot  fresciie  ou  sal^e,  il  la  faut  faire  cuire  plus  long 
temps  que  le  bo-uf  Le  goust  participe  de  la  chair  de  pore,  mais  plus 
approclmnte  de  celle  de  hofuf  Si  on  lii  met  en  paste  il  ne  faut  faire 
cuire  ny  houiller  auparavaut,  ains  la  meitre  crue  dans  la  crousle,  aprcs 
avoir  treinpe  en  vinaigre.  sel  et  espices.  I,a  graisse  est  coiimie  avnede 
pore,  et  ne  se  prend  ]ioinI.  I.a  langue  est  delicate,  et  le  foye  encore 
plus. . .  .Plusiturs  se  prindrrnt  a  diasser  aux  Rats,  Toupes,  et  Souns  ; 
(la  faim  qui  les  pressoit  leur  faisani  incontinent  Irouver  rinvcution  de 
touies  sortes  de  ratoires')  mais  sur  lout  vous  eusaiez  veu  les  pauvres 
enfans  bien  aises  quand  lis  pouvoyent  avoir  quelques  aouriii,  les  quels 


A.  D.  1573.]     SURRENDER  OF  SANCERRE.      81 

The  arrival  of  the  Polish  ambassadors  at  Paris  at 
length  obtained  for  Sancerre  that  capitulation  which 
had  hitherto  been  refused ;  but  the  terms  were 
less  gentle  than  those  which  had  been  granted  to 
La  Rochelle.*  Amnesty,  indeed,  and  the  ^^g  jg 
free  exercise  of  religion  were  conceded ; 
but  the  moveable  property  of  the  inhabitants  was 
to  be  redeemed  by  a  fine  of  40,000  livres,  payable  in 
six  days  or  earlier,  to  be  distributed  among  the 
wounded  besiegers.  The  royal  governor,  on  his 
entrance,  stripped  the  churches  of  their  clocks  and 
bells,  razed  the  gates,  and  dismantled  the  fortifica- 
tions; and  whether  by  treacherous  collusion,  or,  as 
was  asserted,  by  the  outrage  of  robbers,  only  a  few 
days  elapsed  before  the  bailli,,who  had  conunanded 
during  the  siege,  was  murdered  by  night  in  the 
streets,  as  in  obedience  to  the  governor's  summons 
he  was  repairing  to  his  quarters  ;t  and  the  town 
minister,  Pierre  de  la  Bourgarde,  together  with  his 
wife,  was  assassinated  in  the  suburbs. 

ila  faisoyent  cuire  sur  les  tliarbons  (\e  plus  souvent  sans  les  escorcher 
ny  vuider)  et  4  une  grande  avidil^  les  devoroycnt  plustost  (ju'ils  ne  les 
mangeoycnt ;  et  n'y  avoil  quunc,  patte  ny  pi-au  de  rat  qui  ne  fut  soud 
daineinent  renieillie  pour  servir  de  nourriture  i  une  grande  multitude  de 
pauvres  souffreteux.  Aucuns  trouvoyenl  les  rats  rostis  merveilleuse- 
ment  bons,  mais  encores  esloyem  ils  meilleurs  A  I'estuvee. 

Non  seulement  les  peaux  de  parchmin  blanc  fureni  mangees,  mais 
aussi  les  lettres,  tiltres,  livres  iniprimees  etescriptsen  main,  ne  faisant 
difficult^  de  manger  les  plus  vieux  et  anciens  de  cent  i  six  viiigt  ans. 
La  facon  de  les  appresler,  estoit  de  les  fairo  tremper  un  jour  ou  deux, 
(selon  que  la  necessilo  le  permeltoit)lcs  changer  souvent  d'eaux,  les  bicn 
racier  avec  un  cousteau  :  puis  les  faisoit-on  bouillir  un  jour  ou  un  demy- 
jour,  eijusques  ice  qu'ds  fussent  atleiidris  et  ainollis;  ce  (jui  eoanoissoit 
lors  qu'en  les  rompant  el  tirant  avec  les  doigts  on  les  voyoit  glutineux; 
etainslonlesrncassoit  commctripes,  ou  bienon  les  apprestoit  avecherbes 
et  espices  en  facon  de  hochepot :  mfimes  les  soldais  par  les  corps  de 
fcarde  et  autres  par  la  ville  les  frotoyent  et  graissoient  du  siiif  de  la  chan- 
deile,  et  les  ayans  mis  un  pen  i^riller  sur  les  charbons  les  mangeoyent 
amsi.  J'eii  ay  aussi  vou  manger  oii  les  caracteres  imprimez  et  eseripts 
en  main  apparoissoyent  encores  et  pouvoit-on  lire  dans  les  morceaux  qui 
estoyent  an  plat  tons  presis  A  mangier. — W.  p  13S. 

*  The  capitulation  is  printed  in  M--m.  de  I'estat,  torn.  ii.  p.  347. 

t  De  Thou,  Ivi.  10.  Davila  says  that  the  bailii  was  found  dead  in  a 
well ;  and  that  opinions  were  divided  as  to  whether  he  had  been  assaaai* 
nated,  or  had  coinnutted  suicide.    Lib.  v.  torn.  1.  p.  313. 


82  THE  DUKE  OF  ANJOU  UNVVILLIiNGLY    [CH.  XII. 

The  intrigues  by  which  the  gold  of  France 
and  the  consummate  ability  of  her  diplomatist, 
Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  had  obtained  for  the 
Duke  of  Anjou  the  vacant  elective  crown  of  Poland, 
belong  but  slightly  to  our  narrative.  The  chief 
obstacle  to  his  success  arose  from  the  horror 
naturally  aroused  by  the  great  share  ascribed  to  him 
in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  ;  and  the  in- 
fluence both  of  the  German  Protestants  and  of  a 
powerful  native  Reformed  party  was  accordingly 
exerted  to  the  utmost,  but  in  vain,  to  frustrate  his 
election.  But  the  prize,  however  glittering  and 
attractive  when  it  was  first  sought,  had  lost  much  of 
its  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  winner  at  the  moment 
in  which  it  was  gained.  Henry,  from  his  birth,  had 
been  the  favourite  son  with  the  queen-mother  ;  and 
she  had  spared  neither  cost  nor  toil  to  secure  for 
him  this  aggrandizement.  Perceiving  that  Charles 
regarded  him  with  jealousy,  she  dreaded  the  con- 
sequences of  a  probable  open  rupture ;  and  yielding 
also  to  the  credulous  weakness  with  which  she 
esteemed  the  idle  predictions  of  judicial  astrology 
as  the  certain  decrees  of  fate,  she  saw  verified  in 
Poland,  so  far  as  Henry  was  concerned,  that  pro- 
phecy of  Nostradamus,  which  had  assured  her  that 
all  her  sons  should  be  kings.*  Of  the  succession 
in  France,  there  was  at  that  time  little  prospect  for 
him  ;  for  Charles  was  in  the  full  vigour  of  youth,  and 
seemed  likely  to  have  a  numerous  issue.  But  the 
lapse  of  a  few  months  produced  a  rapid  and  most  un- 
expected change.  The  queen  had  borne  a  daughter; 
the  health  of  the  king  was  manifestly  and  rapidly 
declining,  and  a  golden  perspective  opened  upon 
Henry  in  his  native  country.     Much,  liowever,  it 

*  I)e  Thou,  xciv.  3.  Brantflme,  Dismurs  Ixxxviii.  torn.  vii.  p.  229. 
Whore  he  strives  harfl  to  save  the  prophet's  credit,  hy  showing  that  the 
preat  power  oblainei!  by  the  Duke  of  Alencon  in  the  I.ow  C'oumnes  en- 
titles him  also  to  be  considered  a  king,  not  less  than  his  three  brothers, 
who  were  absolutely  crowned. 


A.  D.  1573.]    ASSUMES  THE  CUOWN  OF  POLAND.       83 

was  plain,  would  depend  upon  his  presence  on  the 
spot  in  case  of  the  kind's  demise  ;  for  the  restless 
and  ambitious  spirit  of  his  brother  of  Alen9on 
might  dispute  the  crown  with  a  claimant  in  a  remote 
country  ;  and  the  numerous  malecontents,  whether 
on  account  of  civil  or  religious  grievances,  the 
Huguenots  no  less  than  the  PoIUiques,  would  prob- 
ably acquiesce  and  assist  in  his  usurpation. 

It  was  slowly,  therefore,  and  with  un- 
dissembled  reluctance,  that  the  new  king  ^'"'  ' 
set  forward  to  his  dominions ;  and  his  parting  from 
Catherine,  who  accompanied  him  to  the  frontiers, 
resembled  the  farewell  of  an  exile  expelled  from  a 
beloved  home,  rather  than  the  first  step  in  the  pro- 
gress of  a  youthful  monarch  hastening  to  the  fes- 
tivities of  his  coronation.  The  pomp  which  distin- 
guished his  journey,  aS  he  traversed  the  German 
States,  was  far  from  being  unmixed  with  painful  and 
insulting  adventures.  At  the  court  of  the  Elector 
Palatine,  Frederic  III.  (a  zealous  Calvinist,  whom 
we  have  already  seen  in  active  union  with  the  Hu- 
guenots), he  was  received  with  cold  respect ;  and 
only  those  marks  of  honour  were  paid  to  him  which 
seemed  exacted  by  the  dignity  of  his  station.  An 
alarm  of  fire  disturbed  his  first  night's  repose  in  the 
palace,  and  excited  a  suspicion  of  some  intended 
violence.  But  the  spirit  of  the  count,  his  enter- 
tainer, too  sincere  for  treachery,*  had  prepared  an 
open  and  undisguised  expression  of  the  sentiments 
which  he  cherished.  lieading  the  royal  guest  to 
his  picture-gallery,  the  elector  placed  him  in  front 
of  a  portrait  hidden  by  a  curtain :  it  was  that  of 
Coligny ;  and  when  the  veil  was  drawn  aside,  the 
palatine  asked  Henry  if  he  did  not  recognise  the 
greatest  captain  of  his  time,  and  if  he  were  ignorant 
of  the  loss  which  France  had  sustained  by  his  mur- 
der T    The  king  stammered  some  excuse,  and  would 

*  XntiquiB  severitalit  ct  ab  omni  /ueo  o/jenua.— Pe  Thou,  Ivii.  II. 


84  DEMANDS  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.       [cH.  XIII. 

have  talked  of  the  Hugiienot  conspiracy  which 
occasioned  the  massacre  ;  but  the  count  stopped 
him  short,  and  briefly  replying,  "  We  know  all  that 
story,  sire,"  led  the  way  from  the  cabinet.* 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Demands  of  the  Huguenots  rejected— Proposed  Union  with  the  Poli- 
tiques — The  Huguenots  arm— Failure  of  an  Attempt  to  carry  off  ths 
Duke  of  Alencon— Policy  of  Catherine— Hasty  Flight  of  the  Court 
from  St.  Germain's— Execution  of  La  Molle  and  Coconnas— Attempt 
to  implicate  the  Bourbon  Princes— Escape  of  Cond6 — Capture  of 
Montgomery— Death  of  Charles  IX.— Regency  of  Catherine— Execu- 
tion of  Monlgomery—Truce— Conferences  at  Milhaud— Keturii  of 
Henry  TH.  from  Poland — Union  between  the  Huguenots  and  Politiques 
— EfTeminary  and  Superstition  of  the  King — Death  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine- War  renewed— Caplure  and  Execution  of  Montbrun— The 
Duke  of  Alencon  treats  with  both  the  Huguenots  and  the  Pope — 
Truce — Disorder  of  the  Finances— Bold  Remonstrance  of  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris — Escape  of  the  King  of  Navarre— Formidable  Army  of 
the  Insurgents — Peace  of  Valery — Dissatisfaction  occasioned  by  it. 

Leaving  Henry  in  his  splendid  banishment,  we  re- 
turn to  France,  where  the  nominal  peace  had  not  by 
any  means  restored  tranquillity.  Even  before  the 
King  of  Poland's  departure,  frequent  breaches  of  the 
treaty  of  La  Rochelle  had  induced  the  Huguenots 
to  present  a  remonstrance  to  the  throne, 
^"°'  ^  "  the  terms  of  which  appear  to  have  evinced 
much  confidence  in  their  strength.  They  demanded 
that  the  cautionary  towns  should  be  garrisoned  by 
their  own  troops,  paid  out  of  the  royal  treasury ; 
and  that  two  other  towns  in  every  province,  selected 
by  a  committee  chosen  from  both  religions,  should 
be  placed  in  like  manner  in  their  hands  ;  that  liberty 
of  conscience  should  be  extended  unrestrictedly 
throughout  the  whole  kingdom  ;  that  a  council  of 

*  Id.  ibid.    Brantdme,  Discours  Iwttx.  torn.  vl.  p.  321. 


A.  D.  1573.]  DU  PLESSIS-MOUNAY.  89 

Huguenots  should  be  established  to  take  cognizance 
of  all  legal  processes  among  those  of  the  Religion  ; 
that  their  ministers  might  claim  tithes  ;  that  the  ad- 
visers and  agents  of  the  St.  Bartholomew  should  be 
severely  punished ;  that  the  marriages  of  priests 
and  monks,  who  had  abjured  Romanism,  should  be 
recognised,  and  their  children  legitimated  ;  and  that 
guardians  might  educate  their  orphan  wards  born 
from  Reformed  parents  in  their  family  religion. 
How  oppressive  was  the  voke  under  which  the 
Huguenots  still  groaned  will  be  at  once  perceived 
from  several  of  the  immunities  here  asked ;  but 
their  prayer  was  heard  with  surprise,  and  dis- 
missed with  haughtiness.  "  If  your  Conde,"  re- 
plied Charles,  "  were  alive  again,  and  occupied  the 
heart  of  my  kingdom  and  its  principal  fortresses, 
with  20,000  horse  and  50,000  foot,  he  would  not 
dare  to  propose  one-half  of  these  insolent  condi- 
tions."* 

A  treacherous  attempt  to  surprise  La  Rochelle  in- 
creased the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Huguenots.  The 
plot,  indeed,  when  discovered,  was  sedulously  dis- 
avowed by  the  king,t  and  the  conspirators  were 
executed ;  but  La  Nouii  foreseeing  a  renewal  of 
former  troubles,  anxiously  sought  to  strengthen  his 
party  against  the  approaching  season  of  danger.  An 
alliance  with  the  Poliliqucs,  similar  to  that  already 
projected  during  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle,  appeared 
to  him  to  promise  the  readiest  hope  of  safety;  and 
on  this  point  he  consulted  with  one  now  rising  into 
a  celebrity  which  will  hereafter  make  him  conspi- 
cuous in  our  story.  Philippe,  Seigneur  Du  Plessis- 
Mornay,  of  an  honourable  family  in  the  Vexin,  had 
been  carefully  educated  in  the  Reformed  faith ;  and 

*  De  Tliou,  Ivii.  8. 

t  Charlus  was  most  anxious  (o  remove  all  suspicion  from  the  mind  of 
Ctueen  Elizabeth  that  he  had  authorized  this  treachery.  The  expres- 
sions which  he  employs  in  a  despatch  and  in  a  mimnire  of  instruction? 
to  h\8  ambassador  La  Motic-Feiielon  arc  unusually  strong.  Dec.  2tf, 
1573.    iUm.  de  Castelnau,  torn.  iii.  p.  308,  370. 

Vol.  H.— H 


86  DU  PLESSIS-MORNAY.  [cH.  XIH. 

being-  in  Paris  during-  the  massacre,  Jiad  escaped  un- 
harmed through  a  series  of  adventures,  vividly  de- 
tailed in  a  striking  and  affecting  narrative  from  the 
pen  of  his  wife.*  His  great  merits,  at  the  early  age 
of  five-and-twenty,  were  already  well  known  to  La 
Noue ;  and  no  higher  testimony  of  them  can  be 
offered,  than  that  in  his  present  doubts  that  wise 
and  upright  veteran  had  recourse  to  his  youthful 
friend,  and  invited  him  from  England,  in  which 
country  he  had  found  refuge,  in  order  to  assist  his 
deliberations.!  That  they  disagreed  occasioned  no 
interruption  of  their  mutual  esteem.  De  Mornay 
argued  that  the  wrongs  of  the  Huguenots  were  too 
far  removed  in  their  nature  from  the  discontent  of 
the  Duke  of  Alengon  to  permit  sincere  accordance 
in  the  views  of  the  two  parties ;  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  escape  corruption,  if  they  blended  civil 
with  religious  grievances  ;  and  that  it  was  a  profa- 
nation to  mingle  worldly  interests  with  those  which 
were  altogether  heavenly.  La  Noue  urged,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  two  parties  might  act  in  con- 
cert, because  their  objects,  although  different,  were 
by  no  means  contrary  ;  that  corruption  was  not 
more  to  be  apprehended  by  meeting  in  the  same 
army  than  in  the  same  court ;  for  that  escape  from 
it  must,  in  all  cases,  depend  upon  the  disposition  of 
individuals  ;  and  that  since  the  cause  of  religion, 
although  heavenly,  could  be  advanced  no  otherwise 
than  by  worldly  instruments,  it  was  ill  policy  to 
quarrel  with  those  means  which  Providence  had 
thrown  in  our  way. J 

The  event,  indeed,  fully  justified  Du  Plessis-Mor- 
nay's  judgment ;  but  he  lent  his  personal  assistance 
to  the  project  which  he  disapproved.  The  Hugue- 
nots armed,  and  published  a  manifesto  recounting 

♦  iUtnoircs  de  M.  dti  Plessis-Mornay,  in  the  Ist  volume  of  his  Cor- 
reipondence,  p.  39-45. 
t  W.  73.    Amirault,  p.  101.  t  Amirault,  p   112. 


A.  D.  1574.]  THE    MARDI-GHAS.  87 

their  grievances  ;  opened  communication  with  Alen- 
§on ;  and  signally  failed  in  a  premature  and  ill- 
arranged  attempt  to  carry  him  off  from  the  court 
at  St.  Germain's,  in  order  that  he  might  assume  the 
command  in  some  distant  province.  In  this  en- 
terprise of  the  Mardi-gras  (Shrove  Tues-  1574. 
day),  as  it  was  named  from  the  season  Mar<-h  lo. 
chosen  for  its  execution,  two  hundred  horse  were 
appointed  in  order  to  facilitate  the  escape  of  Alen90n; 
a  number  insufficient  in  case  of  resistance,  but  more 
than  enough  to  excite  reasonable  suspicion.  Owing 
to  another  mismanagement,  this  force  appeared  at 
St.  Germain's  several  days  before  the  appointed 
time ;  and  La  Molle,  the  chief  confidant  of  the 
duke,  and  the  prime  agent  in  the  plot,  terrified  at 
the  irresolution  which  his  master  displayed,  de- 
nounced the  whole  intrigue  to  the  queen-mother,  in 
order  to  make  a  merit  of  a  discovery  which  he  be- 
heved  to  be  inevitable.  The  pohtic  spirit  of  Cathe- 
rine perceived  at  a  glance  the  great  advantages  which 
she  might  derive  from  exaggerating  this  conspiracy. 
It  afforded  her  a  pretext  for  securing  the  persons  of 
those  whom  she  most  feared ;  and  of  thus  consoli- 
dating her  power  at  the  very  moment  in  which  the 
king's  probable  demise  might  occasion  its  over- 
throw. Affecting,  therefore,  the  most  unbounded 
alarm,  she  declared  that  a  plot  had  been  discovered 
against  the  king's  life.  The  scene  which  followed, 
in  some  respects,  brings  to  mind  that  which  ensued 
after  the  similarly  abortive  attempt  at  Meaux ;  and 
Charles  appears  to  have  regarded  both  enterprises 
with  equal  indignation.  Every  recess  and  hiding- 
place  in  the  palace  was  searched  with  care ;  and  it 
was  resolved  not  to  lose  one  moment  in  quitting  an 
abode  of  evil  omen,  the  Saint  Germain's,  against 
which  Catherine  affirmed  that  she  had  ever  been 
warned  by  the  general  voice  of  her  astrologers.* 

*  De  Tbou,  Ivii.  15.    So  great  was  Catherine's  faith  in  this  warning, 


88  LA    MOLLE  ANI>  COCONNAS,  [cH.  XIII. 

Orders  were  accordingly  given  for  the  instant  de- 
parture of  the  royal  household  to  Paris,  and  the 
removal  commenced  in  haste,  terror,  and  confusion. 
"  Then  might  you  see,"  writes  D'Aubigne,  to  whose 
caustic  wit  such  a  theme  afforded  infinite  scope 
for  pleasantry,  "  cardinals  and  courtiers  bestriding 
maneged  steeds,  grasping  tlieir  pommels  with  both 
hands,  and  less  frightened  at  their  foes  than  at  their 
horses."*  The  queen-mother  placed  the  King  of 
Navarre  and  the  Duke  of  Alengon  in  her  own  car- 
riage ;  and  the  unhappy  Charles,  languishing  under 
the  agonies  of  a  cruel  and  incurable  disease,  was 
taken  from  his  bed  at  two  in  the  morning  and  car- 
ried to  a  litter.f  "  Could  they  not  have  waited  a 
few  hours  longer  for  my  deatli !  this  is  bearing  too 
hard  upon  me  !"  was  his  piteous  remark,  as  he  began 
this  last  and  most  distressing  journey.  J 

La  MoUe,  the  handsomest  man  of  his 
April  30.  |.jj^g^  ^^^  ^Y\e  Count  de  Coconnas,  a  Pied- 

montese  nobleman,  both  in  Alen90n's  suite,  together 
with  several  minor  agents  in  the  conspiracy,  were 
executed,  after  having  undergone  the  question.^  In 
the  possession  of  La  MoUe  was  found  a  small  waxen 


that  she  not  only  as  much  as  possible  avoided  residence  in  St.  Germain 
en  Laye,  but  she  built  a  palace  (now  the  H6te!  de  Soissons)  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Eustache,  in  order  that  she  might  escape  lioin  the  I.ouvre  in  St. 
Oermam  d'Auxerrois.  Alter  all,  she  is  said  to  have  received  ihe  »)/«?(• 
cum  from  a  priest  named  St.  Germain,  confessor  to  Henry  III.  PaS' 
quier,  Lcttres,  liv.  xiii.  8,  lorn.  ii.  p.  81.     De  Thou.  xciv.  3. 

*  Hi.stoire  Universelle,  tom.  ii.  liv.  ii.  c.  0.  p.  085;  and  to  the  same 
purpose,  M'.m.  de  I'extat.  tom.  iii.  p.  143.  l(s  vns  A  chcval,  la  pluspart 
a  pi  d,  qvelf/ue  qualtte  et  grandrtir  qii'il  y  eut  en  leurs  person)) es,  et 
plusieiirs  rencontsez  les  mis  sans  bottcs,  les  autns  sans  chausses,  et 
les  mitres  sidis  sn)ilier.t. 

t  Mem.  de  la  Reyiu  ISIatvucrito,  liv.  i.  torn.  i.  p.  78. 

X  "  Au  moinx  s'lls  enssent  atte)id)i  ma  mmt '.  C'est  trap  m'en  vouloirP 
BrantfliTie,  Uiscnurs\\xx\\\\.  tom.  vii.  p.  210. 

$  The  t'ardinal  of  Bourbon  told  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  that  Catherine 
herself  had  stated  lo  him,  that  on  visiting  the  Duke  of  Aiijou  when  in 
bed,  on  Ihenii^htof  I,a  Molle's  execution,  she  dared  not  approach  near 
him,  from  an  appruhension  that  he  would  slab  her.  Jotirnat  des  Pre- 
miers Estats  df  Bhis,  par  M.  lo  Due  de  Nevers,  among  tUc  Preuvcs  du 
Journal  de  Henri  III.  tom.  iii.  p.  303. 


A.  D.  1574.]      COSMO  RUGGIERI.  89 

iniag^,  said  to  resemble  the  king.  The  heart  was 
pierced  with  a  needle  ;  and  the  superstition  of  the 
time  easily  accredited  a  rumour,  which  derived 
strength  froin  the  king's  illness,  that  it  was  a  talis- 
man ijy  which,  as  it  should  be  made  to  waste  away, 
Charles  would  also  gradually  decline.  The  prisoner 
avowed  that  it  was  indeed  a  talisman,  but  one  em- 
ployed for  widely  different  purposes ;  that  it  had  been 
framed  for  him  by  Cosmo  Ruggieri,  a  Florentine 
astrologer  of  note,  in  order  that  he  might, by  magical 
sympathy,  obtain  the  affection  of  a  lady  of  whom  he 
was  enamoured.  Scandal  affirmed  that  lady  to  be 
Margaret  Queen  of  Navarre ;  and  both  she  and  the 
Duchess  of  Nevcrs,  of  whom  Coconnas  was  a  similar 
favourite,  are  said  to  have  obtained  their  lover's  head 
after  execution,  either  to  embalm  or  to  bury  it.* 
Cosmo  appears  to  have  been  a  spy  placed  by  Cathe- 
rine in  the  suite  of  the  Duke  of  Alengon,  under  the 
title  of  an  Italian  master.f  His  arrest  occasioned 
her  gi'eat  anxiety ;  and  in  some  letters  to  the  ■procu- 
reur  general  during  his  imprisonment,  she  expresses 
undoubting  credulity  as  to  his  powers. |  It  appears 
that  after  he  had  undergone  the  usual  preliminaries 
for  the  examination  of  a  wizard,^  and  had  indeed 
been  condemned  to  the  galleys,  lie  received  his  par- 
don. Under  royal  protection  he  obtained  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Mahe  in  Bretagne,  and  enjoyed  a  pension  of 
3000  livres  for  more  than  forty  years.  || 

*  Mi-m.  de  NeverS,  V^m.  i.  p.  75.  Divorce  Satyrique  ap.  Journal  de 
Henri  III.  tnm.iv.  p.  4'Jl. 

t  Addiiions  mix  Mm.  de  Caslelnau,  torn.  ii.  p.  376,  where  the  pro- 
cesses a;;aiiist  La  .Molle  and  Coconnas  are  given  at  great  len;;tli. 

i  M  -m  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  75.  One  of  the  leliers  is  daieii  at  eleven 
at  night. 

(>  Tanqiiam  walcjiais  omnino  rastts,  De  Thou,  Ivii.  16.  A  general 
shaving  was  the  first  process  after  the  apprehension  of  a  sii.spected  sor- 
cerer, in  order  that  the  secret  marks  impressed  upon  him  by  the  devil 
might  not  escape  (hscovery. 

11  These  parilcular.s  are  not  mentioned  by  Le  Laboureur,  much  as  he 
has  said  of  Cosmo  (torn.  ii.  p.  377i.  But  they  are  confirmed  in  a  re- 
markable account  of  the  last  moments  of  that  miserable  wretch  given 

H2 


90      FIRMNESS  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.     [CH.  X!II. 

Especial  pains  were  taken  by  Catherine  to  impli- 
cate both  the  Bourbon  princes  in  this  conspiracy ; 
but  Conde  was  remote  from  immediate  danger  in  his 
government  of  Picardy  ;  and  on  the  first  alarm,  he 
secured  himself  by  a  farther  retreat  to  Strasburg, 
where  he  renewed  his  profession  of  Calvinism.  The 
King  of  Navarre,  evincing,  in  this  instance,  a  noble 
and  high-minded  firmness,  refused  to  compromise  his 
friends.  His  answer  to  the  interrogatories  proposed 
to  him  was  drawn  up  in  writing ;  and  so  ill  was  he 
provided  with  attendants  befitting  his  exalted  rank 
that  he  was  compelled  to  employ  his  queen  as  secre- 
tary ;  an  office  which  she  executed  greatly  to  the 
satisfaction  both  of  her  husband  and  of  herself,  and 
not  a  little  to  the  surprise  of  the  examining  commis- 
sioners.* The  instrument  which  Henry  presented 
to  them  was  criminatory  of  his  accusers  rather  than 
apologetical  for  himself;  it  enumerated  the  various 
injuries  and  insults  which  he  had  endured  from  the 
court  since  his  earliest  childhood ;  it  deplored  the 
loss  of  many  loyal  gentlemen  attached  to  him,  who, 
notwithstanding  their  neutrality  in  the  civil  troubles, 
had  been  recently  massacred  under  his  eyes  ;  and  it 
avowed  his  knowledge  of  a  plot  contemplated  even 
against  his  own  life.  The  Duke  of  Alencon,  on  the 
other  hand,  basely  outran  every  interrogatory  pro- 
posed to  him,  betraying  all  he  knew,  and  adding 
more  which  he  imagined  concerning  the  project.f 

by  Nicholas  Pasquier.  lie  died  in  Paris  in  1615,  jin  iresmechanthomme, 
Ath  e,  et  grand  mnf^icinn ;  and  inlerment  in  consecrated  ground  was 
refused  to  lils  remains,  in  consequence  of  his  having  rejected  the  parting 
oflices  of  the  church.  The  corpse  was  exhumed  from  a  pit  into  which 
it  had  been  thrown,  from  a  suspicion  that  it  had  been  so  buried  to 
conceal  an  assassination  :  and  after  it  had  been  consigned  to  the  earth  a 
second  time,  it  was  scratched  up  and  devoured  by  dogs.  Letlres,  liv.  iii. 
10,  cited  by  Pierre  de  I'Estoile.     Joiirn.  de  Henri  III.  torn.'  i.  p.  6S,  note. 

*  N'ayant  lors  personne  de  consoil  anprcs  de  luy,  ine  commanda  de 
dresser  par^crit  ce  qu'ilavoitd  respoudre.  afinque  parce  qn'il  diroit  il  ne 
miH  ni  luy,  ni  personne  en  iieine.  Dieu  me  fist  la  grace  de  le  dresser  si 
bien  qu'il  en  demeurasalisfail,  et  IcsCommissaires  estonnez  de  le  voir  si 
bien  prt-par,'.— .W;n.  dcla  Rfi/H«  Marguerite,  liv.  i.  torn.  i.  p.  78. 

t  Tiie  difference  of  conduct  between  the  two  princes  is  well  stated  by 


A.  D.  1571.]  COSSE  AND  DE  MONTMOUl.NCY.       91 

The  treatment  of  these  princes  appears  to  have 
been  precisely  simihir ;  and  although  they  were 
vigilantly  watched,  Catherine  was  most  anxious  to 
encourage  a  belief  that  they  were  entirely  at  liberty, 
and  on  the  best  possible  terms  with  the  king.  For 
that  purpose,  after  the  arrival  of  Leighton  on  a  spe- 
cial mission  from  the  court  of  England,  she  ostenta- 
tiously conveyed  them,  unaccompanied  by  an  escort, 
in  her  own  carriage,  from  Vincennes  to  the  Tuil- 
leries :  and  pointing  them  out  to  the  English  minister, 
she  told  him,  with  a  smile,  "  There  are  my  two 
children  ;  you  see  how  far  they  are  prisoners."* 

Two  other  leading  personages,  the  Marcchaux  de 
Cosseandde  I\Iontmorency,of  whose  ill-will  towards 
herself  it  was  not  possible  that  Catherine  should 
doubt,  were  allured  to  Paris,  and  there  committed  to 
the  Bastile.  The  removal  of  La  None,  by  a  more 
summary  course,  was  projected  ;  and  the  services  of 
Maurevel  and  of  a  comrade  professing  the  same 
craft  were  employed,  although  unsuccessfully,  for  his 
assassination. 

The  position  of  Catherine,  thus  strengthened,  be- 
came yet  more  firm  by  the  capture  of  one  other  im- 
portant enemy.  On  the  fresh  arming  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, I\Ionlgomery,  ever  active  in  his  partisanship, 
had  occupied  some  considerable  towns  in  Maine  and 
Brittany  ;t  but,  pressed  by  a  superior  force,  he  at  last 

Le  Laboureur,  wlio  hns  given  the  answers  of  bolh  at  length.  L'un 
comme  un  enfant  birn  ob-issnnt  qui  fail  une  confession  generate,  et 
tontprcst  de  fournir  a  sa  mere  tout  cc  qu'il  Ivy  plairoitde  crimes,  pnur 
faire  perir  tous  srs  serviteurs  et  tous  scs  atnis.  L'autre  comme  ■un  Roy 
caplif  en  sa  personne,  mais  toujours  libre  en  sa  di^nite,  etqu'on  pevt 
dire  avoir  fait  le  proccs  a  cette  Reine  envcr.i  la  Posterilr  an  mexme 
temps  qu'il  croyoit  travailler  an  sien.  Additions  aux  Mim.  de  Castel- 
nau,  torn  ii.  p.  35f). 

*  Despatch  from  Charles  IX  to  La  AFolhc-Fenelon,  JFay  20,  1574. 
Mim.  de  Ca.stelnau,  torn.  iii.  p.  400.  A  yet  more  remarkable  interview, 
In  which  the  princes  were  aaain  exhibited  to  Le'phlon,  is  described  in  a 
subsequent  despatch  from  Catherine  her.self  during  her  regency,  .lune 
18.  /d.  p.  412.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  the  scene  was  precon- 
certed. 

t  A  very  generous  letter  from  Montgomery  to  La  NouS,  explanatory 


92  CAPTURE  OF  MONTGOMERY.        [cH.  XIII. 

threw  himself  into  Donfront,  on  the  Mayenne.*  That 
town,  although  placed  on  an  eminence,  is  commanded 
by  two  neighbouring  hills  ;  its  fortifications  wer» 
weak,  and  desertion  so  far  thinned  the  garrison,  that 
when,  after  a  few  days,  the  commander  retired  into 
the  citadel,  he  could  oppose  scarcely  forty  followers 
to  a  besieging  army  exceeding  5000  men.  Incred- 
ible as  it  may  appear,  this  heroic  band  success- 
fully maintained  an  assault  of  five  hours'  duration. 
But  this  victory  was  not  obtained  without  a  most  de- 
structive loss  :  Montgomery  himself  was  wounded  ; 
many  of  his  bravest  companions  were  slain  ;  and, 
hopeless  of  relief,  he  surrendered  three  days  after- 
ward ;  whether  at  discretion  or  with  an  assurance 
of  personal  safety  appears  to  be  doubtful. f  The 
captive  was  escorted  to  Paris  with  an  ungenerous 
display  of  triumph ;  and  Catherine,  overflowing  with 
joy,  announced  her  fresh  prize  in  the  sick-chamber 
of  her  son  at  Vincennes.  He  received  the  intelli- 
gence with  apathy  ;  and  when  the  queen  repeated  it, 
and  asked  if  he  was  not  pleased  that  the  slayer  of  his 
father  was  at  length  in  his  power,  he  answered  that 
he  cared  neither  for  that  nor  any  thing  else. J  The 
hand  of  death  was  already  upon  him,  and 
^^  *  '  he  expired  three  days  afterward. 
The  illness  and  death  of  Charles  IX.  were  va- 
riously represented.  By  the  more  zealous  Huguenots 
he  was  declared  to  have  been  stricken  by  God's 
wrath  ;  his  malady  was  aflirmed  to  be  unknown  to 


of  some  former  differences,  is  printed  by  Amirault,  p  100.  It  is  dated 
I'roiti  Jersey,  Keb.  18   1574,  and  it  produced  a  reconciliation. 

*  III  llie  modern  department  of  Orne. 

t  De  Thou,  Ivii.  17,  mentions  tlie  doubt.  Davila,  lib.  v.  torn.  i.  p. 
323,  says  positively  a  discret^oiie.  ("barles,  in  a  desp.itch  to  I,a  Motlie- 
Fenelon,  dated  on  the  very  morning  of  his  death,  is  made  iosay,.se  len- 
dit  et  sortit  sur  ma  volniiti'  et  ttisrrrtimi.  M:  m.  de  Casielnau,  torn.  iii. 
p.  403.  I'atlierine,  in  her  despatch  of  June  18,  speaks  in  lil<e  manner. 
But  Lc  I.aboiireur  liimself  says  decidedly  that  Catherine  violated  the 
capitulation  which  stipulated  for  Montgomery's  life.  Tom.  i.  p.  7C9. 
t  m.  ii.  p.  714. 

{  De  Thou.  Ivii.  18.    Brant6me,  Dwcojtri  l.\xxviii.  torn.  vli.  p.  214. 


A.  D.  1574.]    LAST  ILLNESS  OF  CHARLES  IX.  93 

medical  science,  and  the  most  frightful  details  were 
circulated  of  his  parting  moments.  Blood  was  said 
to  have  exuded  for  many  days  from  every  pore,*  and 
his  whole  frame  to  have  been  torn  by  agonizing  con- 
vulsions, which  no  sedative  could  mitigate.  The 
supernatural  portion  of  this  account  is  easily  redu- 
cible to  truth,  after  some  allowance  for  exaggeration. 
Charles  appears  to  have  laboured  under  both  dysen- 
teryt  and  an  affection  of  the  lungs. J  In  each  of 
those  diseases,  effusions  of  blood  are  of  ordinary  oc- 
currence; and  in  certain  stages  of  them  the  sufferings 
of  the  patient  are  most  excruciating.  One  state- 
ment which  was  eagerly  circulated,  that  the  unhappy 
king  was  sometimes  bathed  in  the  copious  torrents 
of  blood  which  gushed  from  him,  seems  to  have 
been  derived  from  an  accident  in  his  sick-chamber 
fully  noticed  in  the  Memoires  de  Vestnt  de  France ; 
but  which  it  can  scarcely  be  expected  that  we  should 
transcribe.^  Of  his  remorse,  however,  there  seems 
little  reason  to  doubt.  De  Thou  represents  him  as 
at  all  times  abstemious  and  indulging  sparingly  in 
sleep ;  but  even  those  short  slumbers,  adds  the  histo- 
rian, which  he  was  used  to  take,  were  interrupted  by 
nightly  terrors  after  the  St.  Bartholomew ;  and  when 
once  awakened,  he  was  compelled  to  have  recourse 
to  music,  as  a  soother  and  an  opiate. ||  A  few  days 
before  he  breathed  his  last,  we  are  told,  that  sum- 
moning his  physicians  long  after  midnight,  he  com- 
plained that  he  was  "  most  horribly  and  cruelly 
tortured ;"  and  received  a  distressing  assurance  in 
return,  that  their  art  had  been  exhausted  in  unavailing 
endeavours  to  procure  him  relief.  Then,  as  his  fa- 
vourite nurse  stood  by  his  bedside,  he  addressed  her 
in  a  violent  burst  of  despair.     "What  blood!  what 


♦  Sully,  .Wm.  liv.  i.  torn.  i.  p.  02. 

t  Pierre  de  I'Ksloile,  Mnn.  p.  72.  ap.  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  torn.  i. 
t  Pespatch  from  Caiherine  to   La  .Mothe-Fenelon.    Mem.de  Castel- 
nau,  lom.  ill.  p.  406.    BrantOme.  Discows  Ixxxviii.  torn.  vii.  p.  212. 
^  Tom.  iii.  p.  370.  ||  Iviii.  19. 


94  RUMOURS  OF  THE  POISONING  OF       [cH.  XIII. 

murder  !  how  evil  are  the  counsels  that  I  have  fol- 
lowed !  Oh  my  God,  pardon  and  pity  me  !  I  know 
not  where  I  am,  so  grievous  is  my  agony  and  per- 
plexity. What  will  be  the  end  of  it !  what  will  be- 
come of  me  !*  I  am  lost  for  ever!"  Without  posi- 
tively affirming  this  incident  to  be  authentic,  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  it  is  far  too  probable. 

The  virulent  hatred  with  which  the  Politiques  re- 
garded Catherine  and  the  Guises  gave  birth  to  a 
rumour  that  Charles  had  been  poisoned  by  their 
agency.  Of  the  Guises  we  hear  little  at  this  season ; 
but  an  incidental  notice  by  Walsinghan  sufficiently 
proves,  that  after  Charles  had  abandoned  his  design 
of  throwing  the  infamy  of  the  massacre  on  their 
family,  they  appeared  to  enjoy  their  former  ascend- 
ency. "  The  house  of  Guise,"  writes  the  ambas- 
sador to  Lord  Burleigh,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1572, 
"  who  since  the  late  murther  seem  to  have  some  mis- 
content,  was  never,  to  the  outward  show,  in  greater 
favour  nor  in  greater  jollity."!  Nevertheless,  in  a 
ferocious  satire,  La  Lcgende  de  Damp  Claude  de 
Guise,  published  anonymously  in  the  year  of 
Charles's  death  (and  which  we  cite  as  a  testimony, 
not  to  fact,  but  to  the  existence  of  rumour),  the 
king's  murder  by  poison  is  attributed  to  the  Cardi- 
nal of  Lorraine.!  Henry  Stephens,  in  that  section 
of  his  Discours  Merveilleux,  in  which  he  institutes  a 
comparison  between  the  crimes  of  Brunehaut  and 
those  of  Catherine,!^  does  not  advance  more  tlian 
"  presumptions"  against  the  latter,  and  those  pre- 
sumptions, as  we  learn  elsewhere,  appear  to  have 
rested  chiefly  on  the  immoderate  grief  which  she  had 
expressed  at  the  departure  of  the  King  of  Poland  ; 
and  on  some  words  of  doubtful  meaning  which  had 
then  escaped  her,  "  that  he  would  not  be  long  ab- 

*  Pierre  de  I'Estoile,  p.  71. 

t  Digges,  p.  2C9. 

i'Ch.  xxxii.  ap.  Mem.  de  Coii(16,  torn.  vi.  p.  112. 

^  iKiv,  ap.  Journal  de  Henri  III.  toni.  ii.  p.  446, 


A.  0.1574.]  CHARLES  IX.  95 

sent."*  But  a  far  darker  tale  is  related  in  one  of 
the  MSS.  of  De  Thou  ;  in  which  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
the  Marechal  de  Retz,  his  brother  the  Bishop  of 
Paris,  and  the  queen-mother,  are  declared  to  have 
been  privy  to  the  atrocious  design  which  was  exe- 
cuted by  the  royal  chamberlain,  La  Tour  ;  easily 
stimulated  to  the  crime  in  revenge  for  an  outrage 
upon  his  matrimonial  honour.f 

The  imputation  of  poisoning  appears  to  us  to  be 
groundless  ;  and  we  may  notice  one  especial  contra- 
diction, which  shows  the  uncertainty  of  that  evi- 
dence upon  which  our  judgment  must  now  be 
founded.  The  authority  of  Brantome,  when  uncor- 
roborated, is  nothing  worth  ;  but  in  the  present  in- 
stance, he  had  no  temptation  to  deviate  from  truth, 
and  even  his  carelessness  could  scarcely  be  mistaken. 
He  says  that  when  Charles's  body  was  opened  there 
was  found  within  it  neither  spot  nor  bruise;  a  fact 
which  generally  removed  the  suspicion  of  poison  ;J 
and  in  this  statement  he  is  confirmed  by  Papyr 
Masson.^     De  Thou,  on  the  contrary,  w  riting  within 

*  "Partez,  jnnis  voiix  ii'y'dcmeurerez  aueres."  D'Aubigni,  Hist. 
Unwcrselle,  lorn.  ii.  liv.  ii.  ch.  2.  p.  667.     Ue  Thou,  IvH.  9. 

t  De  Thou,  ibid.  Var  Lert.  The  cause  assigned  tor  the  cliambcr- 
laiii's  treachery  is  contrary  to  the  reputed  habits  of  Charles,  upon  which 
we  have  already  made  some  observation,  voV.  i.  p.  .31 1.  De  Thou,  after 
speaking  of  the  violent  exercises  to  which  the  king  was  addicted,  adds, 
eo  minus  ill  Venerem  mollis,  ul  qui  unii am  pncllam  Aurelianenscn 
adamdsse  tato  vitce  tempore  compertiis  sii,  Ivii.  19.  The  name  of  this 
favoured  lady  was  Marie  Toiichet.  daughter  of  an  apothecary  at  Orleans, 
who  bore  a  son,  the  Count  d' A uvergne.  Grand  Prior  of  France.  Bran- 
tame.  Dtxcours  Ixxxviii,  lom.  vii.  p.  216.  The  amrj'  of  La  Tour  is  re- 
pealed in  the  pretended  letter  to  Catherine,  frotn  the  Sieur  de  Grand- 
Champ,  chamberlain  of  the  Duke  of  Alencon.  Mem.  de  Castelnau, 
torn.  ii.  p.  427. 

}  Son  corjisfiit  ouvert  en  prisencc  du  Magistral,  n'y  ayant  csti-  trouvc 
audedans  aucune  meurtrisseiirr  n'y  taclie,  celaoste publtquement  Vopin- 
lon  que  Von  avoit  de  la  poison.  Viscours  Ixxxviii.  torn.  vii.  p.  212.  Who 
would  imagine,  after  this  statement,  that  in  the  very  next  paragraph  but 
one,  the  same  writer  would  more  than  imiily  Ills  assent  to  the  opinion  of 
those  who  believe  that  Charles  died  under  the  inlluencc  of  a  slow  poison, 
composed  of  the  powdered  horn  of  a  lepiis  marinas!  and  that  he'would 
continue  to  moralise  gravely  on  the  untimely  fate  by  which  those  who 
administered  the  potion  were  retributively  overtaken! 

^  Corpus  inspectum.  ejt,pr<£sent€  magistratu  urbis.  livores  nuUi  intu- 
repcrti  suapiuonem.  tabijfici  vrnini  aiemerunt  quod  a  fratre  dafun% 


96  UEGENXV  OF  CATHERINE.  [cH,  XIII. 

forty  years  of  the  time,  with  abundant  and  authentic 
materials  before  him,  and  with  an  unrivalled  sobriety 
of  judgment  in  estimating  their  several  values,  posi- 
tively affirms  that  bruises  ivere  found  without  any 
assignable  cause,  insomuch  that  the  suspicion  of 
poison  was  rather  increased  than  diminished.*  The 
point,  however,  is  decided  by  Catherine's'  own  state- 
ment, in  a  despatch  to  La  Mothe-P^enelon,  in  which 
she  speaks  decidedly  of  morbid  appearances  discov- 
ered on  the  lungs. t 

The  great  apparent  benefit  which  accrued  to 
Catherine  from  the  death  of  Charles  must  have 
largely  increased  the  suspicion  that  it  had  been  ac- 
celerated by  her  means.  The  crown  passed  from  a 
son,  who,  although  not  wholly  emancipated  from 
her  yoke,  nevertheless  endured  it  reluctantly  ;  and 
who  evinced  a  fierceness  of  disposition,  sufficiently 
vouching  that  ere  long  he  would  reject  her  control 
altogether.  It  was  transferred,  moreover,  to  another 
son,  who  had  hitherto  lived  with  her  on  terms  of 
confidence,  of  obedience,  and,  if  we  may  so  abuse 
the  word,  of  affection  :  who  had  shared  her  inmost 
thoughts,  laboured  together  with  her  in  her  most 
secret  projects,  and  was  bound  to  her  interests  by  a 
tie  in  some  respects  indissoluble,  a  copartnership  in 
crime.  For  the  future,  therefore,  she  entertained  a 
brilliant  and  not  unreasonable  hope  of  paramount 
ascendency  ;  and  the  evening  of  a  long  life  spent  in 
struggles  for  the  maintenance  of  power,  appeared 
likely  to  bring  with  it  the  fullest  triumph  of  ambi- 

TwnoT  crat.  Ap.  ^[hn.  de  Casteliiaii,  torn.  iii.  p.  21.  Either  Papyr  Masson 
here  translated  from  Hrantflme,  or  Uramdme  from  Papyr  Masson. 

*  Ita  lit  mors  ejus  fcsliiinla  rrrdatUT,  cujiis  rci  sitspicio  nt  purpart- 
tur  mortui  corpus  a  cliiniriSfis  ct  medtcis  apertum,  in  quo  livores  ex 
causd  incognitd  rcpcrti  conceptam  multorum  opinioncm  auxeruutpotius 
quam  minuerunt.  Ivii.  19. 

t  Sn  innladie  estoit  vnc  grosse  fih're  cmitinue,  cansde (Tune  injtam- 
mation  de  pnumons,  qne  les  mede'cins  avoitnt  bien  recontiu  pour  telle, 
tans  t.oiiUfois  y  pouvuir  donner  remede.  Ce  qui  s'est  encore  mieux  viX 
apres  smi'decrs,  qu'il  a  estr  ojivert,  ayant  cste  trouve  Vun  desdits  pou- 
mons  bten  intinssc  ct  I'autre  aussi  cndommagc.  Ap.  Man.  dc  Castal- 
nau,  torn.  iii.  p- 106. 


A.  D.  1574]    EXECUTION  OF  MONTGOMERY.  97 

tion.  For  the  present,  her  wishes  were  fulfilled  to 
the  utmost  extent,  since  the  dying  words  of  Charles 
had  established  her  unrestricted  regent  till  the  ar- 
rival of  his  successor.* 

When  Catherine  transferred  her  court  from  Vin- 
cemies  to  Paris,  she  adopted  precautions  the  most 
ostentatious  to  keep  alive  the  remembrance  of  the 
recently-discovered  plot.  Affecting  alarm  for  her 
personal  safety,  she  walled  up  all  the  posterns  and 
minor  entrances  to  the  Louvre  ;  barricaded  both  ends 
of  the  street  by  which  its  principal  gate  was  ap- 
proached ;  and  permitted  only  the  wicket  of  that 
portal  to  remain  open,  sentinelled  by  a  large  body 
of  archers. t  The  gratification  of  vengeance  upon 
Montgomery  was  among  her  "earliest  cares  after 
arriving  in  the  capital  ;  and  when  his  process  had 
been  completed  by  the  parliament  of  Paris,  he  was 
subjected  to  the  question,  ordirtary  and  extraordi- 
nary, under  the  pretext  of  obtaining  a  confession 
relative  to  the  fictitious  conspiracy  which  it  was  still 
affirmed  the  Huguenots  had  meditated,  after  the  first 
attempt  upon  Coligny.  The  agonies  of  torture  failed 
to  wring  from  the  illustrious  sufferer  one  word  which 
could  derogate  from  his  honour  :  and  when 
he  was  placed  in  a  tumbril,  with  his  hands  ""^  * 
tied  behind  his  back,  and  dragged  to  the  Gr^ve  be- 
tween a  priest  and  the  executioner,  he  continued  to 
maintain  the  most  unshaken  and  dignified  constancy. 
Putting  aside  the  crucifix  which  the  Archbishop  of 
Narbonne  offered  to  his  lips,  he  appealed  to  the 
Bible  as  the  only  source  whence  he  derived  the 
religion  in  which  he  was  resolved  to  die,  even  as  he 

*  Tlie  despatch  in  which  Catherine  announces  her  acceptance  of  the 
regency  to  La  Mothe-Kenelon  is  a  remarkable  specimen  of  hypocrisy. 
She  speaks  of  her  feelings  having  been  so  wrung  by  the  loss  of  that 
■which  she  held  most  dear  and  precious,  that  the  calamity,  m'a/oit  dc- 
airer  dc  quitter  et  remettre  tovtes  affaires  pour  cliercher  quelqne  tran- 
quillite  de  vie,  nevertheless  that  I'ainnie  par  I'instante  priert  qu'il  mc 

fait  par  set  dcrniers  propos j"ay  esti  contrainle  accepter  lodite 

charge.    Mem.  de  Castelnau,  tom.  iii.  p.  iOH. 

t  fouma'  de  Hrnri  III.  turn.  i.  p.  78. 

Vol.  II.— I   . 


98  CONFKIIENCES    AT  MILHAUD.  [cil.  XIH. 

had  lived  :  and  for  the  profession  of  which,  not  for 
the  pretended  treason  of  which  he  was  wholly  guilt- 
less, he  declared  himself  to  be  now  condemned.  On 
the  scaffold  he  recited  the  Articles  of  his  Faith,  and 
having  made  one  short  prayer,  calmly  laid  his  head 
upon  the  block,  while  Catherine  in  person  watched 
thedescendingaxe  of  the  executioner.* 

Uncertain  of  the  course  which  Henry  might  adopt 
J  .  on  his  return  from  Poland,  Catherine's  next 

"^  ■  object  was  to  temporize  with  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  she  concluded  a  truce  for  two  months  with 
their  leaders  at  La  Rochelle.  The  Reformed,  how- 
ever, well  aware  of  the  precariousness  of  their  condi- 
tion, were  by  no  means  lulled  into  indolent  security ; 
July.  16.  and,  pursuant  to  former  agreement,  a  meet- 
Aug.  5.  iiig  of  their  deputies  assembled  at  Milhaud, 
a  small  town  not  far  from  Nismes.  The  chief  sub- 
jects discussed  were  letters  from  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  and  the  proposed  union  with  the  Politiques, 
of  whom  Henry,  Marechal  D'Amville,  was  con- 
sidered chief,  during  the  captivity  of  his  elder 
brother,  the  Duke  de  Montmorency.  La  Popeliniere 
attended  as  one  of  the  deputies  on  this  occasion,  and 
from  him  we  receive  minute  particulars  of  the  con- 
ference. Its  result  was,  first,  a  declaration,  in  which, 
after  many  vehement  assertions  of  loyalty  to  the 
reigning  prince,  and  a  disclaimer  of  any  sinister 
design  against  the  legitimate  order  of  succession, 
the  Huguenots  expressed  their    cordial  desire  for 

*  La  Reine  assista  a  I'ex  ciitimi.  Id.  p.  89.  Callierine.  in  a  ciospatcli 
to  La  Motlie-Fenelon,  dated  June  30,  1574.  pretends  that  she  had  wished 
to  deliiy  Monlgoniery's  process  till  the  arrival  of  the  king;  but  that  she 
was  pri'vonted  by  the  dread  of  qurlquc  imotinn  tant  le  prupic  estoit 
aiiimc  coii/rc  tui.  Mm.  de  ('a.stelnau,  torn.  iii.  p.  417.  A  consummate 
piece  ol" an ifice  is  cxlilbited  in  another  despatch,  dated  ten  days  before. 
With  the  hope  of  prejudicing  Elizabeth  ajiainst  Monigoniery,  Catherine 
instructs  her  ambassador  to  choose  a  fitting  moment  in  which  he  may 
inform  the  (■iui;en  of  England  that  the  prisoner  had  made  some  untoward 
revelilions.  Little  credit,  she  says,  is  to  be  attached  to  his  words;  but 
he  has  stated  his  knowledge  of  Elizabeth's  deadly  enmity  against  the 
jiresent  knig.  in  consetjuence  of  some  disparaging  expressions  which  he 
was  falsely  reported  to  have  used  during  his  negotiation  for  marriage 
with  her.— W.  p.  414. 


A.  D.  1574.]  HENRY    HI.  99 

reconciliation  with  those  fellow-countrymen  and 
denizens  of  the  same  realm  who  were  called 
Catholics.*  They  then  acknowledged  the  Prince 
of  Conde  as  tlieir  governor-general  and  protector, 
and  earnestly  requested  him  to  act  by  the  advice  of 
a  council.  The  deliverance  of  the  King  of  Navarre 
and  of  the  Duke  of  Alengon,  of  Cosse  and  of  Mont- 
morency, was  urged  upon  him  as  a  most  important 
duty  ;  and  an  early  assemblage  of  the  States  General 
was  declared  to  afford  the  soundest  hope  of  remedy- 
ing the  present  intestine  discord. f 

Peace,  however,  notwithstanding  the  truce  which 
Catherine  had  proposed  and  ratified,  seemed  not  less 
remote  than  ever  :  and  throughout  the  summer,  the 
disturbed  provinces  exhibited  scenes  of  almost  unin- 
terrupted outrage.  Upon  these  distressing  incidents, 
productive  of  great  immediate  misery,  but  wholly 
luiimportant  in  their  results,  it  is  unnecessary  that 
we  should  dwell.  Nor  is  it  required  by  the  main 
object  of  our  narrative  that  we  should  detail  the 
stealthy  and  undignified  escape  of  Henry  from  his 
Polish  capital,  when  he  received  intelligence  of  his 
accession  to  the  crown  of  France.  Having  gained 
the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom  which  he  had  deserted, 
by  a  flight  not  less  rapid  than  that  of  a  criminal 
eluding  the  pursuit  of  justice,  he  indulged  his  taste 
for  voluptuous  splendour  by  a  slower  progress ;  and 
he  w^as  entertained  at  the  imperial  court,  and  after- 
ward, more  especially,  at  Venice,  with  unparalleled 
magnificence.  On  his  arrival  at  Turin,  he  was  met 
by  D'Amville,  who,  before  giving  final  assent  to  the 
Huguenot  propositions,  resolved  to  ascertain  by  a 
personal  interview  his  chance  of  favour  under  the 
new  reign.  In  the  outset,  he  was  amply  satisfied 
by  his  reception  ;  for  Henry  listened  to  his  pacific 
advice,  and  bestowed  upon  him  numerous  marks  of 
intimate  confidence  and  affection.     But  this  reviving 

*  Lairs  compatriotes  regnicnles  nnmmez  CathoUques. 

t  La  Popeliniere,  torn.  ii.  p.  834.    Mem.  de  I'eitat,  torn.  iii.  p.  409. 


100     HENRY  III.  RETURNS  TO  FRANCE.   [oH.  XII. 

graciousness  was  nipped  in  its  very  bud  by  the 
counter-representations  of  Catherine's  agents  ;  and 
had  it  not  been  for  a  seasonable  warning  from  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  who  assisted  his  speedy  retreat,  the 
niarechal  might  have  encountered  loss  of  freedom, 
perhaps  even  of  life. 

On  his  return  to  his  government  of  Languedoc, 
he  threw  himself  unreservedly  into  the  arms  of  the 
Huguenots  :  and  the  conditions  which  he  accepted 
sufficiently  evince  his  bitterness  of  hostility  against 
the  court,  and  his  utter  hopelessness  of  reconcilia- 
tion. He  was  not  allowed  to  propose  any  change  in 
either  the  civil  or  military  government  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, without  the  consent  of  a  council  nominated 
by  the  deputies  and  entirely  composed  of  Reformed 
members.  The  secretary  of  that  council  and  his 
own  secretaries  were  also  to  be  of  the  same  religion. 
He  was  not  to  attempt  the  solemnization  of  the 
Romish  worship  in  any  of  the  towns  occupied  by 
the  Huguenots  ;  whereas,  in  those  possessed  by  his 
opponents,  the  Reformed  were  to  be  allowed  to  cele- 
brate their  own  service  publicly  and  without  mo- 
lestation. In  his  army  he  was  to  observe  a  rigid 
moral  discipline,  similar  to  that  which  had  been 
established  among  the  Calvinists  ;  and  whenever  a 
prince  of  the  blood  appeared  as  their  leader,  he  was 
cheerfully  to  surrender  to  him  the  power  with  which 
for  the  present  he  was  invested.*  .  Such  were  the 
concessions  to  which  the  persevering  enmity  of 
Catherine  reduced  a  leading  member  of  the  noblest 
house  in  France,  and  one  who  at  an  earlier  season 
had  manifested  a  zealous  opposition  against  the  Re- 
formed. 

On  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  September, 

Sept.  5.  Henry  crossed  the  frontiers,  and  set  foot 
within  his  native  dominions.  He  was  received  by 
the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Duke  d'Alen^on,  whom 

*  La  Popeliniere,  torn.  ii.  p.  210.    Man.  dt  tatat.  torn.  iii.  p.  416. 


A.  D.   1574.]  HIS    EFFEMINACY.  101 

Catherine  had  released  for  that  purpose  from  their 
virtual  captivity,  and  whom  he  greeted  with  much 
apparent  courtesy  and  kindness.  The  queen  her- 
self awaited  him  at  Bourgoin,  whence  the  court  ad- 
journed with  great  pomp  to  Lyons,  still  vmder  the 
government  of  Mandelot.  During  more  than  two 
months'  residence  in  that  city,  all  eyes  remarked  with 
sorrow  and  astonishment  the  strange  revolution 
w  hich  the  attainment  of  sovereignity  had  effected  ni 
Henry's  character.  No  trait  deserving  attachment, 
indeed,  had  exhibited  itself  in  former  life  ;  but  the 
Duke  d'Anjou,  although  stern,  cruel,  and  perfidious, 
was  not  devoid  of  many  of  those  qualities  which  con- 
tribute to  mihtary  excellence;  and  in  past  campaigns 
he  had  evinced  courage,  hardihood,  and  activity. 
Even  those  merits,  however,  so  often  the  result  of 
merely  physical  temperan\ent,  had  now  disappeared. 
The  soldier  who  had  bravely  shared  the  perils  of 
Jarnac  and  of  Moncontour,  was  no  longer  to  be  re- 
cognised in  the  luxurious  Sybarite,  who,  instead  of 
showing  himself  in  kingly  guise  on  horseback,  floated 
in  the  privacy  of  a  gilded  barge  upon  the  lazy 
waters  of  the  Saone  ;  who  passed  his  mornings  in 
seclusion  within  the  chambers  of  the  palace  ;  dined 
amid  a  fence-work  of  barricades,  preventing  that  free 
access  to  his  table  which  had  ever  formed  a  portion 
of  royal  state  with  his  predecessors ;  hastily  dis- 
missed the  petitions  which  he  received  after  his  ban- 
quet ;  shunned  the  society  of  his  ancient  nobles  and 
warriors,  and  abandoned  himself  to  the  dissolute 
companionship  of  a  train  of  youthful  mignons.* 
Nor  was  it  the  least  subject  of  grievance,  that  the 
profuse  expenditure  lavished  upon  those  odious  and 
insatiable  favourites  was  supplied  by  a  sale  of  the 
public  offices  of  state,  thus  transferred  from  the 

*  The  word  Misnnn  bocame  pepuliarly  appropriated  to  Henry's  de- 
baiirhed  companions,  as  R'>«' did  in  after  times  to  those  of  the  regent 
Orleans  :  but  it  had  been  long  before  in  similar  use.  Duchat,  Notes  sur 
It  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  torn.  i.  p.  xxvui. 

13 


102  HIS    SUPERSTITION.  [cH.  XIII. 

worthiest  to  the  wealthiest.  So  great  was  the 
poverty  of  the  court  in  consequence  of  these  un- 
seasonable largesses,  that  when  it  moved  from 
Lyons  to  Avignon,  the  king's  pages  were  compelled 
to  pawn  their  cloaks,  in  order  to  furnish  necessaries 
during  the  journey ;  Catherine  herself  borrowed 
5000  francs  for  her  personal  expenses  ;  and  the 
wits  diverted  themselves  by  writing  epitaphs  on  that 
"  villanous  gold,"  which  they  said  was  long  since 
dead  and  buried.* 

Either  adopting  the  outward  observances  of  reli- 
gion in  order  to  mislead  the  popular  judgment  into 
a  belief  that  he  was  really  pious  ;  or,  as  is  far  from 
improbable,  yielding  to  the  self-delusion  which  the 
spirit  of  his  church  is  well  fitted  to  encourage,  and 
extinguishing  occasional  remorse  by  a  commutation 
of  moral  purity  for  bodily  penance,  Henry,  from 
the  outset  of  his  reign,  devoted  himself  to  a  show 
of  superstitious  austerities.  In  Avignon,  he  enrolled 
himself  as  a  brother  among  a  confraternity  of 
Flagellants,  and,  clad  in  sackcloth  and  brandishing 
a  whip,  he  disciplined  his  bare  shoulders  during  a 
procession  in  the  open  streets.  Each  of  the  three 
branches  into  which  these  fanatics  were  subdivided 
received  illustrious  patronage,  like  the  factions  of  the 
circus  in  imperial  Rome,f  according  to  the  prevail- 
ing colour  of  its  respective  vestments.  The  king 
considered  the  Whites  as  his  peculiar  charge  ;  the 
protection  of  the  queen-mother  was  especially 
directed  to  the  Blacks ;  and  to  the  Cardinal  D'Armag- 
nac  was  consigned  the  guardianship  of  the  Blues.X 


*  On  ne  parloit  alorx  que  ce  (liable  d'are^enf,  qii'on  disoit  estrepasse  et 
dont  on  fit  Vepitaplie  in  vers—  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  lorn.  i.p.  108. 

t  l)c  Tlioti,  lix.7. 

t  Joiininl  ilr  IJeiiri  IH.  torn.  i.  p.  Ul.  BusboqiiiuK,  writinjr  to  his  im- 
perial master,  ilu nils  ''is  t'Mib.issy  at  Paris,  a  lew  yeais  later  (1 582),  states, 
that  the  kwii  had  then  jiisl  insliiuied  a  new  order  ol'  Flagellants,  which 
gave  rise  to  the  rollowiii»  ludicrous  incident.  Servi  Notnlitatis  apedibnn, 
quorum  hie  ma.xiiiuis  imiiierux  r.st.  ci'iiii  illius  Sodalitii  in  ipsd  regid 
queedani  per  jocuni  it  lasciviam  smularentur,  Regis  jussu  abrcpii  lerc 


A.  D.  1574.]      THE  CARDINAL  OF  LORRAINE.  103 

The  King  of  Navarre  appeared  among  the  band  of 
devotees,  and  escaped  with  a  harmless  sarcasm  from 
Henry  upon  his  unfitness  for  the  office  which  he  had 
undertaken  ;*  but  this  mummery  proved  fatal  to  an- 
other of  the  most  remarkable  personages  of  the  times. 
The  pretensions  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  to  the 
character  of  a  sincere  penitent  were  by  no  means 
better  founded  than  those  of  Henry  of  Navarre 
but  the  station  which  he  occupied  in  the  church  ap- 
peared to  require  that  he  should  participate  with 
yet  greater  zeal  than  others  in  this  show  of  contri- 
tion. Bare-headed,  with  his  feet  shod  in  scanty 
sandals,  and  grasping  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  he  min- 
gled therefore  with  the  brethren  ;  and  the  cold  of  a 
December  night,  striking  inwardly,  produced  a  fever, 
which  rapidly  terminated  his  life,  in  the 
50th  year  of  his  age. t  For  some  days  pre-  **'■  " 
ceding  his  decease,  the  violence  of  his  malady  ren- 
dered him  delirious  ;  and  little  as  the  words  of  an 
unhappy  sufferer,  deprived  of  his  mental  faculties 
and  approaching  his  last  agony,  are  a  theme  adapted 
to  the  jester,  the  virulence  of  party-spirit  converted 
them  to  the  purposes  of  satire.  It  was  said  that,  in 
his  ravings,  the  cardinal  vented  language  the  most 
impure  and  blasphemous ;  and  that  the  Archbishop 
of  Rheims,  his  nephew,  who  watched  by  his  bed- 
side, observed  that  he  saw  nothing  desperate  in  his 
uncle's  case,  for  that  his  words  and  actions  were 
just  the  same  as  they  had  always  used  to  be. J 


ad  octoginia  in  coquinam,  atque  ibidem  flagris  ad  satietatem  caesi,  haud 
fictum  simularhrum  Flagellatorum  ct  Poenitentium  retulerunt.  Epist. 
xvlii.     See  also  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  torn  i.  p.  393- 

*  Journal  df  Henri  HI.  torn.  i.  p.  111. 

t  A  procession  of  Place  Hants  at  Paris  in  1583  occasioned  the  death  of 
a  brother  or  the  Due  do  Joycuae  in  a  very  similar  manner.  De  Thou, 
Iviii.  3. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IH.  tom.  i.  p.  112.  The  Les^ende  de  Damp.  Clavde 
de  Cuijse  afflrms  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  was  poisoned  by  his 
bastard  brother,  by  means  of  a  scented  purse ;  and  that  his  delirium 
lasted  thirteen  days,  during  which  period  no  other  sounds  were  heard 
rrom  hlalips  bat  a  r«potiti<ni  of,  "Monsieur  St.  Denis  .'    Monsieur  Si. 


104  SUPERSTITION  OF  CATHERINE.  [cH.  Xni. 

The  night  on  which  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  died 
was  memorable  in  France  for  a  tempest  of  unpre- 
cedented violence  ;  which,  as  in  the  similar  case  of 
Cromwell,  in  after-days,  furnished  a  topic  of  debate 
to  all  classes  (for  all  were  then  superstitious),  and 
was  variously  interpreted,  according  to  the  senti- 
ments of  different  partisans.  The  friends  of  the  de- 
ceased cardinal  intimated  that  the  storm  was  sym- 
bolical of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  had  deprived  the 
church  of  a  supporter  so  wise,  so  great,  and  so 
virtuous.  His  enemies  mamtained,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  it  was  an  accompaniment  of  the  troop  of 
devils  which  had  assembled  to  transport  the  parting 
spirit  to  the  revels  of  their  Sabbath. 

The  queen-mother  spoke  slightingly  of  his 
memory,  and  expressed  her  conviction  that  his 
death  would  restore  peace  to  the  kingdom  which 
he  had  so  long  agitated.  Nevertheless,  her  dis- 
turbed fancy  frequently  recalled  his  image.  At  the 
very  moment  after  she  had  uttered  the  above  harsh 
opinion,  she  seemed  rapt  in  a  brief  ecstacy,  and 
declared  that  she  saw  the  cardinal  borne  by  angels 
to  paradise  ;*  and  often  afterward,  during  the  still- 
ness of  night,  she  would  express  to  the  ladies  of 
her  bed-chamber  the  terrors  to  which  she  was  ex- 
posed by  repeated  visits  from  his  spectre.  We 
have  already  noticed  Catherine's  strong  addiction 
to  astrology:  and  the  Memoires  of  her  daughter, 
Margaret  of  Navarre,  afford  proofs  of  numerous 
other  superstitions,  which  she  not  less  weakly  cher- 
ished. On  the  night  before  Henry  H.  was  killed  by 
Montgomery,  she  affirmed  that  she  had  seen  a  vision, 
in  which  the  precise  circumstances  of  her  hus- 
band's fate  were  distinctly  represented  ;  she  be- 
lieved that  the  death  of  each  of  her  children  had 
been  prognosticated  by  a  luminous  appearance  visi- 

jymia  Arenpmrite .'"  Ap.  Mim.  de  dnndi,  lom.  v.  p.  134.    This  anecdote, 
and  that  in  tliR  text,  perhaps,  deserve  equal  credit. 
*  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  torn.  i.  p.  114. 


A.  D.  1575.]   MARRIAGE  OF  HENRY  III.         105 

ble  to  herself  only ;  and,  during  the  battle  of  .Tar- 
nac,  while  suftering  under  an  access  of  fever,  at 
more  than  a  day's  journey  from  the  field,  she  is  said 
to  have  used  expressions  seemingly  applicable  to  the 
very  events  which  were  occurring  at  the  moment : 
to  the  unhorsing  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  to  the  death 
of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  to  the  final  victory  of 
the  royalists.  When  the  courier  arrived  with  des- 
patches on  the  following  night,  she  told  him  that 
she  had  nothing  to  learn,  for  that  she  had  seen  the 
battle.*  We  need  but  turn  to  some  of  the  many 
anecdotes  which  Philippe  de  Comines  has  recorded 
of  his  master,  Louis  XI.,  to  determine  that  Cathe- 
rine's is  not  a  solitary  instance  of  the  domination 
established  by  credulity  over  n)inds  which  appear 
to  have  rejected  all  legitimate  control  of  moral 
obligation. 

If  the  Cardinal  of  I-orraine  had  survived  but  a 
few  weeks  longer,  his  ambition  would  have  been 
gratified  by  witnessing  the  elevation  of  a  near  rela- 
tive to  the  throne  of  France.      The  bride  whom 
Henry   selected  was    Louise  de   Lorraine,  eldest 
daughter  of  Nicolas  Count  de  Vaudemont,t  by  whose 
distinguished  beauty  the  king  had  been  attracted 
while  on  his  route   to   Poland.     His   Sacre      1575. 
and  his  nuptials  were  solemnized  early  in   F'b.  n. 
the  following  year  ;  and  the  frivolity  of  his   ^*^^-  '^' 
tastes  and  the  coarseness  of  his  feelings  were  stri- 
kingly  evinced  by  two  incidents   connected   with 
them.     The  early  portion  of  the  day  of  each  cere- 
monial was  occupied  by  the  king  in  arranging  the 
jewels  and  in  superintending  the  toilettes  both  of 
iiimself  and  of  his  intended  consort ;  and  so  long 
were    these  idle  and    unmanly   amusements  pro- 
tracted, that  on  the   Sacre  it  became  necessary  to 
omit  the  chanting  of  Tc  Dcum ;  and  on  both  oc- 

*  Mcmnires  dc  la  Riyne  Marguerite,  torn.  i.  liy.  i.  p.  80. 
t  Second  son  of  Aiiioiiy  Diiko  ol'  Lorraine :  and  afterward  created 
Duke  dc  Mcrcwur  by  his  ijun-in-law  Henry  III. 


106  VNION  BETWEEN  THE  [CH.  XIII. 

casions  mass  was  deferred  till  the  evening,  con- 
trary to  the  ordinances  of  the  church.*  Louise  had 
been  compelled  to  sacrifice  her  affections  to  the  ag- 
grandizement of  her  house;  and  the  younger  brother 
of  the  Count  De  Salines,  to  whom  she  was  attached, 
Avas  not  the  only  suitor  who  had  pretended  to  her 
hand.  Among  others  is  noticed  Francis  of  Luxem- 
burg, who  was  present  both  at  the  Sacre  and  the 
marriage.  Henry  had  been  informed  of  the  rejected 
lover's  former  addresses,  and  he  took  an  opportu- 
nity of  oflering  to  him  a  not  very  satisfactory  re- 
compense. "  My  cousin,"  he  said,  "  I  have  espoused 
your  mistress,  and  in  return  you  shall  espouse  one  of 
mine."  Nor  was  this  offensive  tender  made  in  jest : 
the  courtier  implored  a  few  days'  respite  ;  and  then 
only  by  a  hasty  flight  escaped  the  dishonour  of 
being  compelled  to  become  the  husband  of  Kenee 
de  Chateauneuf,  a  well-known  early  favourite  of  the 
king.f 

Before  the  court  became  occupied  with 
Jan.  10.  ^\^Q^Q  festivities,  the  Huguenots  and  the 
Pohliqites  had  finally  cemented  their  union,  at 
Nismes.  A  declaration  of  great  length  imbodied 
the  terms  of  their  agreement ;  and  the  portion 
Avhich  relates  to  discipline  is  very  striking,  whether 
we  consider  its  unmeasured  severity,  or  the  willing- 
ness with  which  the  Romanists  appear  to  have 
submitted  to  the  Calvinistic  rule.  Profane  swear- 
ing was  declared  to  be  one  of  the  most  besetting 
sins  of  a  camp ;  and  in  order  to  restrain   its   com- 

*  De  Thou,  Ix.  14.  The  historian,  on  this,  as  on  many  orcasions, 
was  a  witness  of  the  incident  which  he  relates,  nam  et  ip.ie  aderam. 

t  7o(/r?!(i/ rff  Henri  III.  torn.  i.  p.  121.  This  lady  afterward  iriarried 
Antinotil,  a  Florentine,  captain  of  the  galleys  at  Marseilles,  whom,  upon 
discovering  him  in  an  inlrigiie,  she  poniarded  with  her  own  hand.  Id. 
p.  217.  II  '.  .VI  laiifr.t  Irx  /t?)imrx  tisixsoicnt  aiiisi,  grand  Dim,  qn'il 
y  nvrnit  des  vnivrs  :  is  Codefroy's  pujuant  note  on  the  above  passage. 
Her  second  husband,  Aliovili,  an  Italian,  and  captain  of  the  galleys,  like 
her  first,  fell  in  a  private  quarrel  with  Henry  of  AngoulOme,  a  bastard  of 
Henry  11.,  and  grand  prior  of  France,  who  himself  received  a  mortal 
wound  ill  the  affray.    De  Thou,  Ixxxv.  19.  Journal,  torn.  i.  p.  483. 


A.  D.  1675.]        HUGUENOTS  AND  POLITIQUES.         107 

mission,  a  fine  of  100  sols  was  levied  for  the  first 
offence,  ten  livres  for  the  second,  and  on  the  third,  the 
culprit  was  to  be  stripped  of  his  arms,  as  unworthy 
to  bear  them.  By  another  clause  it  was  expressly 
forbidden  to  every  member  of  the  army,  without  ex- 
ception, whatever  miglit  be  his  rank  or  quality,  to 
entertain  any  woman,  either  in  the  field  or  in  garri- 
son, on  pain  of  death  to  the  man  and  of  corporal 
punishment  to  his  companion.* 

Some  fruitless  attempts  at  negotiation  were  made 
by  Conde  in  the  spring ;  but  neither  the  propositions 
which  his  delegates  submitted  to  the  king,  nor  the 
answers  which  they  were  instructed  to  return, 
were  calculated  to  extinguish  hostility.!  A  desul- 
tory warfare,  therefore,  continued  to  rage  during 
the  summer  in  the  southern  provinces ;  but  the 
only  event  in  it  deserving  even  of  a  brief  notice 
was  one  which  brought  the  career  of  a  noble  soldier 
to  a  cruel  and  untimely  end.  The  ancient  family  of 
Puy,  in  Dauphine,  had  early  adopted  the  Reformed 
principles  :  and  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third 
troubles,  Jacques  de  Crussol,  the  Sieur  D'Acier,J 

*  Sur  peyne  de  la  vie.  et  la  femme  cCestre  punie  corporelletnent.  La 
Popelinierc,  lom.  ii.  p.  266.  The  articles  of  tins  association  occupy 
eleven  closely-printed  folio  pages. 

Grose,  in  his  Military  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  70,  has  noticed  a  similar 
very  cruel  provision,  made  by  our  own  Henry  V.  in  some  Rules  and 
Ordinances  of  War  which  ho  promulgated  at  Mans.  All  women  of  ill 
repute  are  ordered  tobe  stationed,  during  any  siege,  at  the  distance  of  at 
least  a  league  from  the  army  ;  and  the  punishment  for  a  transgression  of 
this  order  was  the  fraclUTe  of  the  left  arm,  in  case  any  of  the  said 
women  should  be  found  within  the  prohibited  distance  afler  one  admo- 
nition. Grose  refers  for  those  ordinances  to  Upton  de  Re  Militari,  in 
which  work  he  says  they  are  given  probably  in  the  original  I.aiin.  In 
the  only  edition  of  Upton's  treatise  which  we  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  consulting  (that  edited  by  Bi.ssapus),  the  author  does  no  more  than  al- 
lude to  those  ordinances,  which  he  say.s  brevttatis  causa  omi/to  in.ierere, 
expressly  adding  that  he  had  elsewhere  translated  them  from  English 
into  Latin,  at  the  command  of  the  Earl  of  Salisbury. 

1  UeThou,  1.x.  15. 

t  During  the  St.  Bartholomew,  .lacques  was  preserved  at  the  interces- 
sion of  his  brother  Antoine,  (irst  Duke  of  U/.ei,  a  Romanist,  by  the 
express  command  of  Catherine  De  Thou,  lii.  8.  On  the  death  of 
Antoine  without  issue,  in  1573,  Jacques  succeeded  to  the  dukedom,  and 
renounced  the  Huguenot  faith.     Id.  Ivi.  10. 


108  EXPLOITS  OF  [CII.  XIII. 

marched  the  25,000  men  who  sprang  up  at  his  call 
in  the  south,*  to  the  aid  of  the  Prince  of  Conde  in 
Guyenne,  Louis  de  Montbrun,  a  leading  memberf  of 
that  house,  was  appointed  to  an  honourable  com- 
mand near  the  general's  person.  The  immediate 
friends  of  D'Acier  formed  a  troop  of  two  hundred 
mounted  gentlemen ;  and  from  among  them  Mont- 
brun was  selected  to  bear  his  commander's  standard. 
The  device  blazoned  on  its  green  silken  folds  repre- 
sented Hercules  destroying  a  hydra,  each  of  whose 
hundred  necks  terminated  in  a  head  wearing  a  cardi- 
nal's cap,  a  mitre,  or  a  cowl ;  beneath  was  written 
a  legend,  Qui  casso  crudeles  ;  which  words,  although 
neither  easily  reducible  to  any  one  known  dialect, 
nor  very  pregnant  with  meaning,  even  when  as- 
signed to  all  upon  which  they  have  claim,  were, 
nevertheless,  highly  agreeable  to  the  taste  of  the 
times,  as  anagrammatic  of  the  name  Jacques  de 
Crussol.J 

Before  that  expedition,  Montbrun  was  already  an 
experienced  campaigner  ;  for,  with  but  few  intervals 
of  repose,  he  had  borne  arms  for  the  Huguenot  cause 
from  the  moment  of  the  rising  at  Amboise.  He  had 
latterly  held  the  chief  command  in  Dauphine  ;  and 
De  Thou  more  than  once  forcibly  expresses  the  great 
terror  which  was  there  excited  by  his  active  parti- 
sanship.^ "  Le  brave  Montbrun,^''  the  title  by  which 
he  became  generally  known,  and  which  of  itself  an- 
nounces his  pre-eminence,  was  everywhere  on  the 
mountains  the  mainstay  of  his  party.  On  one  occa- 
sion, he  succeeded  in  capturing  the  formidable  and 
sanguinary  Des  Adrets ;  and  but  a  few  months  be- 

*  De  Thou  plainly  distinguishes  two  Sieurs  de  Montbrun,  Charles 
and  Louis  ;  of  whom  the  latter  is  the  one  with  whom  our  present  nar- 
rative is  concerned.  Moreri  recognises  but  one,  and  relates  all  theinci- 
dent.s  under  the  name  of  Charles. 

t  DeThou.  xliv,  18. 

t  Additioyis  n».r  Hfem.  de  Castelnau,  torn.  ii.  p.  580. 

$  lyiim  Mimthntnhis  cum  exigud  manu  discurrens,  terrorem  tot  A 
provinrin  Oitmtnvit.  Iv,  14.     Magna  de  se  trrrore  sparso.  Ivii.  10. 


A.  D.  1575.]     LOUIS  DE  MONTBRUN.         109 

fore  the  time  at  which  we  have  now  arrived,  a  por- 
tion of  the  royal  baggage  on  its  way  to  Lyons  had 
been  seized  and  detained  by  his  followers.     The 
reply  which  Montbrun  unadvisedly  offered  to  a  let- 
ter from  Henry,  demanding  the  restoration  of  this 
plunder,  must  have  been  eminently  ungratefuLto 
royal  ears.     "  Why,"  said  the  plain-spoken  and  un- 
ceremonious soldier,  "  should  your  majesty  write  to 
me  in  the  tone  of  a  king  ]     In  time  of  peace  I  might 
acknowledge  your  sovereignty  ;    but  now,  durmg 
war,  with  one  hand  on  the  sword  and  our  seat  in 
the  saddle,  all  men  are  equal."*     Few  of  his  ex- 
ploits were  more  brilliant  than  those  which  signal- 
ized his  last  campaign  ;  and  the  inferiority  of  numbers 
with  which  he  frequently  defeated  his  adversaries 
brings  to  mind  some  of  the  fabled  deeds  of  roman- 
tic chivalry.     Even  on. the  day  of  his  capture,  he 
had  slam  200  royalists,  with  the  loss  of  only  twenty- 
seven  men  on  his  own  side  ;  and  his  soldiers  were 
scattered  in  search  of  booty,  when  he  was  again 
attacked  and  surrounded.     His  horse,  jaded  by  the 
toil  of  battle,  refused  a  leap,  stumbled,  and  shattered 
Its  master's  thigh  upon  which  it  fell.    Thus  disabled, 
Montbrun  tendered  his  sword  to  a  relation  whom  he 
observed  in  the  enemy's  ranks,  and  surrendered  on 
an  assurance  of  personal  safety.     "  I  was  at  court  " 
is  the  narrative  of  Brantome, "  when  a  captain  ar- 
rived from  the  field  with  the  news  ;  and  well  was 
he  received,  and  glad  was  the  king  thereof.    '  I  knew 
well,'  said  Henry,  '  that  Montbrun  would  repent  his 
msolence  ;  his  doom  is  already  sealed,  and  he  shall 
now  see  whether  we  are  equals.'  "f 

In  pursuance  of  this  menace  the  prisoner  was 
transferred  to  Grenoble,  with  strict  instructions  that 
the  nicest  surgical  skill  should  be  directed  to  the 
cure  of  his  broken  thigh.  No  pains  were  spared  by 
his  companions  in  arms  to  obtain  his  reilease,  and 

*  Brantdme,  Discours  btxxix.  4,  torn.  vii.  p.  349. 

T  Id.  ibid. 

Vol.  II.— K 


110  EXECUTION    OF    MONTBRUN.  [cH.  Xlll. 

both  D'Amville  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  strongly  re- 
monstrated against  his  being  considered  in  any- 
other  character  than  that  of  a  prisoner  of  war^ 
The  Duke  of  Guise,  interested  in  the  fate  of  his  an- 
cient servant  Besme,  who  had  fallen  into  the  power 
of  the  Huguenots  about  the  same  time,  is  said  to 
have  earnestly  solicited  the  king  for  permission  to 
negotiate  an  exchange.*  But  Henry's  bitter  resent- 
ment was  not  to  be  disarmed,  and  all  eflbrts  for  the 
deliverance  of  Montbrun  proved  useless.  Long  be- 
fore his  limb  was  restored  to  use,  he  was  tried  and  con- 
demned for  high-treason,  and  the  judicial  processes 
were  even  unduly  accelerated,  through  a  fear  lest 
the  prisoner's  rapidly  declining  health  might  prevent 
him  from  surviving  until  punishment  could  be  in- 
flicted. When  carried  to  the  scaffold  in  a 
Aug.  12.  gj^^jj.^  jjg  evinced  a  constancy  of  spirit  little 
to  be  expected  from  the  obvious  failure  of  his  phy- 
sical strength;  and  briefly  entreating  the  spectators 
to  remember  that  he  died,  not  as  a  malefactor,  but 
as  one  who  had  taken  up  arms  for  liberty  and  for 
religion,  against  their  public  violators,  he  bowed 
himself  to  the  stroke,  which  he  declared  he  should 
receive  with  joy,  as  bringing  to  a  close  many  toils 
and  miseries.! 

The  gratification  which  the  king  received  from 
this  cruel  and  unworthy  revenge  was  soon,  how- 
ever, to  be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  an  event 
which  he  felt  to  be  deeply  injurious  to  his  personal 
honour.  The  Duke  of  Alencoh,  having  neither  for- 
gotten his  former  harsh  usage,  nor  abandoned  the 
hope  of  future  aggrandizement,  resolved  to  with- 
draw altogether  from  a  court  in  which  he  perceived 
himself  to  be  not  only  without  influence,  but  ex- 

*  AmiriHiIt,  who  mentions  this  report,  says  that  it  is  not  corroborated 
by  the  letters  which  the  Uuke  of  Guise  wrote  to  I,a  None  in  behalf  of 
Besme;  and  that  in  regard  to  Montbrun  himself,  if  such  an  offer  had 
been  really  madi^,  je  croy  qu'i}  ntst  mieux  ayme  pcrilrc.la  teste,  comme  H 
Jisty  que  iPestre  contrepese  a  un  homme  si  ilttcntable.—V.  167. 

t  DeThou,  Ix.  21. 


A.  D,  1575. J   THE  DUKE  OF  ALENCON.        Ill 

posed  to  daily  mortifications.  Quitting  the  Tuil- 
leries,  on  foot  and  with  but  a  single  at- 
tendant, on  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  ®^'' 
September,  he  proceeded  to  one  of  the  gates  of 
Paris ;  entered  the  carriage  of  a  lady  with  whom 
he  was  familiar,  which  there  awaited  him  ;  mounted 
a  horse  at  a  short  distance  onward  ;  and,  within 
two  leagues  of  the  capital,  found  himself  at  the  head 
of  between  two  and  three  hundred  gentlemen,  as- 
sembled at  an  appointed  rendezvous.  Under  their 
escort,  he  hastened  on  to  Dreux,  a  town  belonging 
to  his  own  apanage  ;  and  thence  addressed  a  strong 
letter  to  Henry,  and  published  a  manifesto,  vaguely 
worded,  affording  an  opportunity  for  every  discon- 
tented party  in  the  kingdom  to  propose  a  union 
with  him,  and  yet  leaving  open  a  door  for  future 
reconciliation  with  the  king.* 

One  clause  in  this  manifesto  was  especially  in- 
serted as  a  lure  to  the  Huguenots,  and  with  many 
of  the  more  sanguine  among  them  it  produced  the 
effect  which  Alen9on  desired.  Having  sufficiently 
professed  attachment  to  the  ancient  religion,  and 
avowed  his  determination  to  maintain  it  entire  and 
inviolate,  he  notified,  that  in  order  to  remove  all 
difficulties,  and  to  reunite  in  their  natural  bonds 
the  hearts  of  all  Frenchmen,  he  took  equally  under 
his  protection  every  person  of  either  religion  ;  and 
he  promised  that  in  the  approaching  States  General 
provision  should  be  made  for  liberty  of  conscience. 
So  grievously  had  the  citizens  of  Nismes,  of  Mon- 
tauban,  of  Montpellier,  and  of  La  Rochelle  suffered 
under  recent  oppression,  that,  caught  by  these  few 
words,  they  hailed  Alengon  as  a  deliverer,  and 
offered  a  public  thanksgiving  in  their  churches  for 

*  The  letter  is  printed  in  the  Mm.  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  95,  the  mani- 
festo, p.  97.  Uu  Plessis  makes  rivalry  in  an  intrigue  the  proximate  cause 
of  Alengon's  quarrel  with  his  brother.  De  nosire  lemps,  enl'an  1575,  la 
guerre  dii  bienpiiblic,  men-  par  Francois  Diic  d'Alencon  cnntre  Henry 
HI.  provcnt  de  Pamour  des  deux  freres  vers  unemesme/anme.  Adois 
a  qui  escrU  CHisloire  de  son  temps,  torn.  vii.  p.  198, 


112  THE   DUKE    OF   ALENCON.  [cH.  XIII. 

his  escape.*  His  original  baptismal  name,  changed 
afterward  by  the  caprice  of  his  mother,  came  to  the 
aid  of  their  excited  fancies ;  and  in  this  new  Her- 
cules, as  he  had  been  called  at  the  font,t  they 
beheld  the  avenger  of  all  wrongs,  the  destroyer  of 
every  pest  and  abuse  which  laid  waste  their  bleed- 
ing country.  Even  La  None,  fully  as  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  weakness  and  instability,  the 
want  of  ennobling  qualities  and  the  absence  of  com- 
manding talents  which  rendered  Alengon  but  a 
broken  reed,  so  far  bowed  himself  to  the  general 
delusion  as  to  encourage  hope  that  the  prince's 
illustrious  station,  and  his  nearness  to  the  crown, 
might  convert  him,  under  sound  guidance,  into  a 
valuable  ally.  He  resolved,  therefore,  upon  a  per- 
sonal interview ;  and  the  single  head  of  La  None, 
says  his  biographer,|  was  reckoned  of  as  much 
value,  when  he  arrived  in  Monsieur's  quarters,  as 
the  junction  of  a  whole  army. 

Little,  however,  was  this  mark  of  confidence 
deserved ;  for  Alengon,  while  in  communication 
with  D'Amville,  with  La  Noue,  and  with  the  Prince 
of  Conde  himself,  despatched  a  secret  envoy  to  the 
Vatican,  and  pleaded  to  Gregory  XIIL  the  hard 
necessity  of  his  condition,  which  forced  him  to 
temporize  with  heretics  and  insurgents.  The  pope 
received  the  messenger  with  kindness,  and  returned 
by  him,  not  a  rebuke,  but  a  caution. i^  Meanwhile 
Conde,  whose  German  levies  were  not  yet  entirely 
completed,  detached  the  Sieur  de  Thore,  brotlier  to 
Montmorency  and  D'Amville,  with  such  troops  as 
he  could  spare  ;  and  at  the  same  time  offered 

'^^'    '  to  Alen^on's  acceptance  the  generalship  of 

*  De  Thou,  Ixi.  5. 

t  Charles  IX.  was  christened  Maxjmilian ;  Henry  ni.,  Alexander 
Edward ;  and  Franci.s  Duke  of  Alengon,  Hercules.  "  La  reyne,"  says 
Brantdme,  without  oflTeririg  further  explanation,  "  par  tels  changements 
des  norfls  pensoit  leur  baptiser  la  fortune  meilleure  ou  la  vie  plus  longue," 
Z)iScowrs  Ixxxviii.  torn.  vii.  p  270. 

X  Amirault,  p.  175,  from  Mezeray. 

$  De  Thou,  Ixi.  0. 


A.  D.   1575.]     ALARM  AT  ALENCON's  FLIGHT.  113 

the  confederates.  The  march  of  Thore  was  inter- 
cepted by  a  superior  force,  and  he  was  totally 
routed  in  an  engagement  near  Langres  in  Cham- 
pagne, which  deserves  remembrance  from  having 
given  to  Henry  Duke  of  Guise  the  sobriquet  of 
Le  Balafr^,  by  which  he  is  usually  distinguished. 
His  left  cheek  was  carried  away  by  a  musket-ball, 
discharged  by  a  Huguenot  soldier  after  the  battle 
had  been  won ;  whether  in  presenting  his  piece  to 
the  duke  in  the  act  of  surrender,  or  in  endeavouring 
to  escape,  is  not  fully  ascertained.* 

On  discovering  his  brother's  escape,  the  king 
evinced  great  anxiety.  He  commanded  that  every 
apartment  in  the  Louvre,  and  every  house  in  Paris 
which  miglit  aftbrd  him  a  probable  retreat,  should 
be  searched  ;  and  summoning  his  chief  counsellors, 
at  an  advanced  hour  of  the  night,  he  ordered  them 
to  mount  their  horses  and  to  pursue  the  fugitive. 
"  Dead  or  alive,"  exclaimed  the  irritated  prince, 
"  he  must  be  brought  back  :  he  is  about  to  kindle 
the  flames  of  war  in  my  dominions,  and  he  must  be 
taught  the  folly  of  attacking  a  king  so  powerful  as 
myself."!  But  pursuit  was  useless,  for  Alen9on  had 
obtained  many  hours'  start.  One  almost  immediate 
consequence  of  his  flight  was  the  release  of  the 
Marechaux  de  Cosse  and  de  Montmorency  from  their 
long  imprisonment.  Their  services  were  necessary 
to  Catherine  in  the  negotiation  which  she  resolved 
to  undertake  ;  and  from  the  latter  especially  she 
expected  and  derived  every  assistance  which  integ- 
rity and  a  disinterested  patriotism,  throwing  aside 

*  "  Le  combat  fut  achevi,  et  I'arm^e  log6e  4  onze  heures  du  matin,  et 
sur  les  quatre  du  soir,  le  Due  de  Guyse,  venant  de  visiter  un  capitaine 
bless6,  trouve  un  soldat  Huguenot  de  ce  pais  Id,  qui  cherehoil  ses  com- 
inodile?.  pour  se  retirer.  Le  Seurre,  secretaire  du  due.  I'avisa  comme  il 
se  relaissoit  dans  un  hallier.  Le  due  y  donne,  et  receut  un  grand  coup 
qui  lui  emporta  la  joue  :  quelques  uns  veullcnt  que  le  soldat  I'ait  fait  par 
resolution,  les  autres  que  c'ait  este  en  rendant  son  poiirinal ;  la  tbi  de 
cela  est  d  un  eapitaine  et  au  secretaire  qui  seuls  estoient  avec  le  due." 
P'Aubigni5,  Hist.  Vniverseltc,  torn.  ii.  liv.  ii.  c.  17,  p.  182. 

f  Mem.  dela  Rtyiie  Marguerite,  torn.  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  99. 

K2 


114  TRUCE.  [cH.  xni. 

all  remembrances  of  private  wrongs,  could  afford. 
Nevertheless,  only  a  few  weeks  had  passed  since 
she  had  ordered  his  assassination ;  and  one  more 
deed  of  secret  murder  would  have  been  added  to 
the  many  crimes  perpetrated  in  the  cells  of  the 
Bastile,  but  for  the  uprightness  of  the  officer  to 
whom,  mistaking  his  character,  she  intrusted  the 
execution  of  her  design.* 

With  Montmorency,  therefore,  in  her  suite, 
Catherine  proceeded  to  Touraine  ;  and  the  result 
of  much  diplomacy  and  of  numerous  conferencesi 
was  a  truce  of  six  months'  duration,  to  commence 
from  the  22d  of  November.  The  terms  were  ad- 
vantageous to  the  confederates.  In  order  to  check 
the  advance  of  the  German  auxiliaries,  the  king 
engaged  to  pay  to  them  160,000  crowns,  provided 
they  did  not  cross  the  Rhine.  Angoulesme,  Niort, 
Saumur,  Bourges,  La  Charite,  and  Mezieres  were 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Reformed,  under  a  pledge 
that  they  should  be  restored  at  the  expiration  of 
the  truce,  whether  it  was  succeeded  by  peace  or 
war.  The  king  was  to  maintain  at  his  own  ex- 
pense 2000  men  for  the  garrisons  of  those  towns  ; 
the  armies  on  both  sides  were  to  be  disbanded,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Royal  Swiss  and  Scotch 
Guards  ;  and  a  congress  was  to  be  assembled  at 

*  A  report  of  the  death  of  the  Marichal  d'Aniville  having  been  propa- 
gated, Catherine  persuaded  the  king  to  instruct  Gilles  de  Snuvre,  his 
keeper  of  the  robos,  to  smother  Moiitmnrenoy  in  prison  ;  and  in  order 
that  the  public  mind  might  be  reconciled  to  liis  sudden  decease,  it  was 
given  out  Iliat  lie  was  subject  to  apoplectic  atiaclis.  De  Souvre  tempo- 
rized and  the  escape  of  Alengon,  and  (he  contradiclion  of  the  report  con- 
cerning D'Amville,  occasioned  a  revocation  of  the  nelarious  order.  De 
Thou,  Ixi.  6. 

t  Catherine  at  first  agreed  that  the  conferences  with  Alengon  should 
be  held  on  neutral  ground  ;  eventually  they  look  place  in  the  house  of 
the  Uuke  de  Moiitpeiisier  at  Chainpiyny.  An  amusing  pretext  for  this 
chanpcj  which  conduced  greatly  lo  Caiherine's  personal  safety,  may  be 
found  in  a  letter  from  Monlpensier  lo  I.a  Noufi.  dated  Nov.  Ifl,  I5T5. 
"  S'estant  la  reyne  irouvfee  un  pcu  autrement  traitee  qu'elle  ne  pensoit 
d'une  niedeeine  ([u'elle  a  prise  ce  matin,  ce  qui  luy  fait  craindrc  de  ne 
pouvoir  sortir  demain,"  &c.    Amirault,  p.  176. 


A.  D.   1575.]      REMONSTRANCE    OF    PARIS.  115 

Paris,  in  the  following  January,  by  which  the  con- 
ditions of  a  definitive  peace  might  be  arranged.* 

So  little,  however,  was  the  royal  faith  to  be 
trusted,  that,  during  the  short  interval  which  elapsed 
between  the  signature  and  the  promulgation  of  this 
treaty,  Henry  negotiated  fresh  levies  of  men  both 
in  Swisserland  and  in  Germany  ;  and  but  for  the  im- 
possibility of  procuring  money  for  their  payment, 
in  consequence  of  the  miserable  dilapidation  of  the 
national  finances,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he 
would  have  poured  these  troops  into  France,  and 
by  unscrupulously  violating  the  truce,  have  taken 
his  enemies  at  advantage.  When  he  asked  a  loan 
of  200,000  livres  from  the  city  of  Paris,  the  authori- 
ties drew  up  a  strong  remonstrance,  detailing  the 
numerous  grievances  under  which  the  kingdom  was 
labouring.  In  this  document  it  was  shown,  that  du- 
ring the  last  fifteen  years  the  city  of  Paris  alone  had 
furnished  thirty-six  millions,  and  the  clergy  nearly 
twice  that  sum,  for  the  expenses  of  the  civil  war. 
After  a  fearful  picture  of  the  exhaustion  of  all  the  re- 
sources of  the  state,  and  a  temperate  but  unsparing 
denunciation  of  the  venality,  the  luxury,  and  the 
rapacity  of  the  favourites  of  the  court,  the  remon- 
strance concluded  with  a  transcript  of  the  memora- 
ble admonition  bequeathed  by  St.  Louis  to  his  son, 
enjoining  him  to  cultivate  religion ;  to  cherish  the 
needy ;  to  avoid  burdening  his  subjects  with  need- 
less tribute  ;  never  to  impose  a  tax  unless  with 
their  free  consent,  nor  for  more  than  a  given  time ; 
to  remove  all  evil  counsellors  from  his  presence ; 
and  to  warn  his  judges  to  administer  justice  impar- 
tially, and  without  respect  to  any  man's  person, 
even  were  it  his  own.  The  lessons  of  Catherine 
had  not  been  thrown  away  upon  her  favourite  son ; 
and  Henry,  although  deeply  moved  by  this  bold 
representation  of  ungrateful  truths,  when  he  ex- 
pected an  immediate  relief  of  his  pressing  neces- 

*  Af-^m  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  99. 


116  THE    TRUE    CROSS.  [cH.  XIII. 

sities,  dissembled  his  anger  and  mortification,  and 
so  far  controlled  himself  as  to  dismiss  the  civic 
deputies  with  a  gracious  reply.* 

Some  opportune  private  sources  for  a  while  sup- 
plied the  insatiate  demands  of  his  treasury ;  and 
Henry  was  suspected  of  having  recourse  to  other 
means  of  obtaining  money,  little  in  accordance  with 
his  apparent  piety.  Amongthe  many  relics 
of  the  Sainie  Chapelle  had  long  been  pre- 
served an  unusually  large  fragment  of  the  true 
cross.  In  what  manner  this  holy  treasure  disap- 
peared was  never  ascertained  ;  but  rumour  affirmed 
that,  early  in  the  present  year,  it  had  been  pledged 
to  some  Venetian  merchants,  for  moneys  taken  up 
by  the  king.  The  loss  of  a  battle  would  have 
afflicted  the  citizens  of  Paris  less  sensibly  than  the 
removal  of  this  loved  object  of  their  devotion ;  and 
it  was  found  necessary  to  provide  them  with  a  com- 
pensation. At  the  approach  of  the  ensuing  Easter, 
therefore,  an  announcement  was  made  from  all  the 
pulpits  in  the  capital,  that  a  new  crucifix,  on  the 
model  of  that  which  had  been  stolen,  had  been 
erected  in  the  Sainte  Chapelle ;  that  it  contained 
another  piece  of  the  true  cross  which  had  hitherto 
been  deposited  in  the  inner  treasury  ;  and  that, 
during  the  holy  week,  it  would  be  submitted  to 
public  inspection,  and  to  the  customary  worship  of 
the  faithful.  "  At  which  notification,"  says  the 
journalist  who  relates  these  facts,  "  the  good  citi- 
zens, not  less  credulous  than  devout,  expressed  a 
marvellous  contentment."! 

In  order  to  obtain  by  force  the  payments  which, 
notwithstanding  the  stipulations  of  the  truce,  were 
continually  eluded,  Conde  put  his  army  in  motion, 
crossed  tlie  frontier,  quartered  himself  in  the  richest 
towns  of  Burgundy,  and  levied  from  them  600,000 
livres.     The  difficulties  of  the  court  were  at   the 

*  DeThou.Ixi.  10. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  III.  lorn.  i.  p.  129, 161. 


A.  D.  1576.]       THE    KING    OF    NAVARRE.  117 

same  time  increased  by  the  escape  of  the  King  of 
Navarre  ;  who,  encouraged  by  the  success  of  Alen- 
9on,  and  profiting  by  the  Hcense  which  he 
enjoyed  in  hunting,  evaded  the  spies  who  *  '  ' 
watched  his  steps  ;  and  by  a  circuitous  route  reached 
his  own  government  of  Guyenne,  almost  before  his 
flight  was  detected.  As  he  rode  from  the  forest 
of  Senlis  to  the  bank  of  the  Loire,  he  was  wrapped 
in  silence.  The  passage  of  the  river  appeared  to 
secure  him  from  pursuit ;  and  he  then,  with  a  deep 
sigh,  thanked  God  for  his  deliverance.  "  In  Paris," 
he  said,  "  they  have  made  away  with  my  mother, 
they  have  murdered  the  admiral  and  all  our  best 
servants  ;  and  but  for  the  mercy  of  Heaven,  they 
would  have  done  the  same  by  mj^self  also.  Unless  I 
am  dragged  back  thither,  never  will  I  return."  Then 
resuming  his  usual  light  and  playful  tone,  he  added, 
"  I  regret  but  two  things  which  I  have  left  behind 
me  in  the  city — the  mass  and  my  wife.  As  for  the 
mass,  I  shall  try  to  do  without  it — but  my  wife  I 
must  contrive  to  see  again."*  In  passing  through 
Tours  (as  we  are  informed  by  Sully,  whose  gui- 
dance henceforward  is  invaluable,  and  who  accom- 
panied the  King  of  Navarre  in  his  escape,  and 
through  the  whole  of  the  subsequent  journey),  he 
sufficiently  showed  that  he  could  dispense  with  the 
mass,  by  a  public  renewal  of  his  profession  of  the 
Reformed  faith. f 

*  M.  p.  157.  Nevertheless,  very  little  cordiality  existed  between  Henry 
and  Marearet  even  at  that  early  period.  She  tells  us,  that  at  the  time  of 
his  escape,  she  had  been  confined  to  bed  for  several  days  by  "  un  grand 
rhiime  sur  la  rnoill6  du  visage  et  une  grosse  fievre."  Notwithstanding 
this  illness,  Henry  was  so  occupied  by  paying;  attentions  to  Madame  de 
Sauve,  that  he  found  not  a  single  moment  to  vi.sit  his  wife's  sick-cham- 
ber in  the  day-litiie,  "  et  revenant  pour  se  retirer,  li  I'accoustumee,  i.  une 
ou  deux  heures  apres  niinuit.  couclians  en  deu.x  lits  comme  nous  cou- 
chions  tousjours,  je  ne  rentendois  point  veuir,  et  se  levant  avant  que  je 
fusse  osveillee,  pour  sh  treuver,  comme  j'ay  dit  cy-devant,  au  lever 
de  Madame  ma  mere,  oii  iMadame  de  Sauvcr  alloit ;  il  ne  souvenoit  point 
de  parler  d  moy,  comme  il  avoit  promis  i  mon  frere,  et  partit  de  cette 
facon  sans  me  dire  i.  Dieu."— Tom.  i.  lib.  ii.  p.  101. 

*  Tom.  i.  liv.  i.  p.  (j^.  The  account  given  by  Sully,  an  eyewitness, 
cannot  be  douljted  ;  nevertheless,  De  Thou  places  Henry's  public  act  of 


118  ARMY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.  [cH.  XIII. 

The  sagacity  of  Catherine  perceived,  however, 
that  the  escape  of  the  King  of  Navarre  was  in  one 
sense  likely  to  prove  beneficial  to  her  interests  ;  for 
as  he  swelled  the  number  of  leaders  who  might  pre- 
tend to  the  chief  command  among  the  confederates, 
so  also  he  proportionally  increased  the  chances  of 
mutual  jealousy  and  of  consequent  disunion.  The 
army  now  assembled  at  Moulins  was  indeed  formi- 
dable ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  Alen9on's  selfishness 
and  impatience  of  a  colleague,  it  was  well  prepared 
to  compel  its  enemies  to  admit  any  terms  which  it 
might  think  fit  to  propose.  "When  the  Germans  un- 
der Conde  and  Duke  Casimir,  son  of  the  Elector  Pal- 
atine, eflected  their  junction  with  the  French,  and 
the  Bourbon  prince  voluntarily  surrendered  his 
charge  to  Alen^on,  not  less  than  30,000  finely  ap- 
pointed troops  displayed  themselves  on  the  plains  of 
La  Soze.*     The  king  on  the  other  hand  possessed 

reconciliation  later,  and  at  Niort,  l.\iii.  2.  Tliere  might,  perhaps,  be  two 
acts  ;  of  which  the  first  was  hasty,  the  second  more  formal  U'Aubigne 
states,  that  the  king,  in  passing  through  Alencon,  stood  godfather  to  the 
child  of  his  physician.  CaiUard  ;  and  that  when  the  21st  Psalm  hap- 
pened to  occur  m  the  church  service  of  the  day,  he  applied  it  to  liimself, 
and  drew  from  it  a  good  omen.  Hist.  I'niverselle,  tom.  ii.  liv.  ii.  c.  18, 
p.  188. 

*  An  amusing  and  characteristic  anecdote  respecting  the  junction  of 
these  armies  is  preserved  by  Amirault,  who  relates  it  on  the  authority 
of  Uu  Plesais-Mornay.  Duke  Casimir  and  his  officers,  after  their  ar- 
rival, were  banqueted  by  the  Huguenots  "  a  I'Allemande :  et  ce  Prince 
mettoit  enlre  ses  kiuanges  qu'il  scavoit  aussi  bien  lerrasser  ses  contre- 
teiians  i  la  table  qu'au  combat."  La  None,  Uu  I'lessis-Mornay,  and 
Turenne  slept  in  the  same  chamber  ;  and,  according  to  their  ordinary 
custom,  one  of  them,  in  turn,  gave  out  a  prayer  to  his  companions  belbre 
retiring  to  bed.  Turenne.  upon  whom  that  duty  devolved  on  the  night 
in  question,  slopji^d  short  after  the  first  clause,  and  La  Noug,  who  en- 
deavoured to  supply  his  place,  made  no  better  progress.  When  Mornay 
was  applied  to,  he  iiad  the  good  sense  to  suggest  that  they  should  go  to 
bed  for  ihal  night,  each  man  saying  his  own  prayer  for  himself.  "  Le 
lendeniain,  au  iiiatui.  eu.\  deux,  qui  cstoient  plusjeunes  que  La  Noii6,  le 
railloient  de  ce  que  les  brindes  Allemandes  avoient  un  peu  delrempe  sa 
sagfsse  et  sa  gruviie."  p  188.  No  more  striking  evidence  ol  the  general 
orderly  habits  of  the  Relbrmed  camp  need  be  demanded  than  is  furnished 
by  the  record  of  this  little  irregularity.  O/jcc  only  did  l-a  Noufi  accom- 
modate himself  to  the  national  tastes  of  his  German  guests; — 

Nanatur  ct  prisci  Catonis 
Saepe  mcro  incaluissi  virtus. 


A.  D.  1576. J      PKACE  OF  VALERY.  119 

neither  men  nor  money ;  and  the  frivolous,  effemi- 
nate, and  degrading  habits  of  his  Ufe  deprived  him  of 
any  hope  of  support  from  personal  attachment. 
His  sole  reliance  was  placed  on  the  dexterity  of 
Catherine's  intrigues,  and  if  they  had  failed  him  he 
would  probably  have  retreated  to  a  cloister.* 

The  single  present  object  which  Catherine  pro- 
posed to  herself,  in  order  to  avert  the  great  perils 
with  which  Henry  was  environed,  was  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  confederacy.  She  might  defy  its  mem- 
bers when  separated ;  but  in  order  to  break  their 
union,  it  was  necessary  that  she  should  deceive. 
No  concession,  therefore,  by  which  her  purpose 
might  be  effected  appeared,  too  great ;  and,  if  it  had 
ever  been  in  her  contemplation  that  the 
treaty  which  she  concluded  should  be  put  ■^^"'  ^  " 
in  execution,  there  would  have  been  little,  if  any 
thing,  more  which  the  Huguenots  could  reasonably 
demand.  Of  its  lxiii.  lengthy  articles,  those  only 
need  be  noticed  here  which  concern  religion.  A 
general  amnesty  was  granted  for  the  past ;  a  free 
exercise  of  worship  was  permitted  in  every  town 
throughout  the  kingdom  (with  the  exception  of 
Paris,  two  leagues  around  it,  and  the  immediate  resi- 
dence, for  the  time  being,  of  the  court),  and  in  all 
other  places  in  which  the  consent  of  the  Seigneur 
could  be  obtained  ;  books  might  be  published  and 
churches  erected  by  the  Huguenots  ;  sermons  might 
be  preached,  sacraments  administered,  marriages 
celebrated,  schools  taught,  and  consistories  and 
synods  assembled,  provided  a  single  royal  commis- 
sary were  present.  All  doubts  as  to  the  legality  of 
marriages  contracted  by  persons  of  either  sex,  who 
had  taken  religious  vows,  and  the  consequent  legiti- 

*  "There  is  nnthing,"  said  Pope  Sixtus  V.  one  day  to  the  Cardinal  de 
.loyeuse.  "  which  your  king  has  not  done  in  order  to  become  a  monk. 
There  is  nothing  which  I  have  not  done  in  order  to  cease  to  be  one." 
Notes  to  Sully,  torn.  i.  p.  82.  Amelot  de  la  Uoussaie,  Note  on  Lettre* 
d'Ossat,  torn.  i.  p.  1C4. 


120  PEACE  OF  VALERY.  [cH.  XIII. 

macy  of  their  children,  were  declared  to  be  at  an 
end  ;  and  every  post  of  honour  and  emolument  in  the 
state  was  rendered  as  accessible  to  a  Huguenot  as 
to  a  Romanist.  In  eight  of  the  royal  courts  of  judi- 
cature, Protestant  judges  were  appointed  as  as- 
sessors to  the  Romanists.*  The  sentences  affecting 
the  memory  and  the  posterity  of  such  leading  Hu- 
guenots as  had  perished  on  the  scaffold  were  re- 
versed ;  and  what  piteous  recollections  are  aAva- 
kened  by  a  roll  of  blood  which  included,  among 
others,  the  names  of  Coligny,  of  Briquemaut,  of  Ca- 
vagnes,  of  Montgomery,  and  of  Montbrun !  The 
king,  moreover,  was  made  to  declare  (and  never 
did  more  shameless  effrontery  than  that  declaration 
disgrace  any  instrument  of  state),  that  "  the  disor- 
ders and  excesses"  of  the  St.  Bartholomew  "  had 
occurred  to  his  great  regret  and  displeasure  ;''f  and 
that,  as  some  compensation  for  the  loss  endured  by 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  massacred,  he  granted 
them  certain  exemptions  from  fiscal  payments.  The 
towns  of  Beaucaii'es,  Aigues-mortes,  Perigueux^ 
Verdun,  Nions,  Serre,  Issoire,  and  Sene  were  given 
up  to  the  Reformed  ;  the  Duke  of  Alen^on,  the  King 
of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  the  Marechal 
D'Amville  becoming  sureties  for  their  allegiance. 
As  a  personal  gratification  to  Duke  Casimir,  inunu- 
nities  were  granted  to  the  Protestants  in  certain 
towns  to  which  the  emperor  pretended ;  and  assu- 
rances were  given  of  the  speedy  discharge  of  his 
promised  subsidies.  To  Conde  was  afforded  a  hope 
of  re-establishment  in  the  government  of  Picardy, 
and  a  donation  of  its  strongest  town  Peronne.  But 
to  the  Duke  of  Alen^on  himself  accrued  the  cliief  ad- 
vantage from  this  treaty,  which  he  was  proud  to  hear 

*  Hence  termed.  Cliamhres  7ny-part!es. 

t  "  Les  dcsordrcs  et  excez  fails  le  24  Aoust  et  jours  suivana,  en  con- 
sequence dudit  jour,  A  Paris  et  en  autres  villes  et  endroils  de  nostre 
Royaume  soiit  avenus  A  nostre  trea  grand  regret  et  desplaisir."  La  Pope- 
liniere,  torn.  ii.  liv.  xl.  j>-  30J. 


A.  D.   1570.]       GENERAL  DISSATISFACTIOX.  121 

termed,  La  Pair  de  Monsieur*  No  price,  indeed, 
was  deemed  exorbitant  which  could  secure  his  de- 
tachment from  tlie  Huguenots.  He  received  a  pen- 
sion of  100,000  crowns,  and  the  rich  provinces  of 
Berry,  Touraine,  and  Anjou,  were  annexed  to  his 
apanage.  From  the  last  of  these  great  possessions 
he  derived  the  title  by  which  he  will  hereafter  be 
mentioned  in  our  narrative. f 

Thus  melted  away  before  the  promises  of  a  faith- 
less woman  the  mightiest  confederacy  which  had 
been  formed  since  the  opening  of  the  civil  struggles, 
and  the  most  goodly  army  which  had  ever  appeared 
in  the  field  to  support  the  Reformed  cause.  The 
Duke  of  Anjou  resorted  to  his  new  provinces  secure 
of  their  possession ;  but  his  late  comrades  in  vain 
awaited  the  fulfilment  of  their  claims.  No  payment 
was  forwarded  to  the  quarters  upon  which  Casimir 
had  retired  in  Burgundy  ;  the  gates  of  Peronne  were 
closed  when  Conde  approached  them  ;  and  the  King 
of  Navarre,  happy  in  not  having  received  any  prom- 
ise, on  that  account  escaped  disappointment,  and 
was  permitted  to  amuse  himself  by  hunting  in  the 
country  about  Niort.|  When  his  queen  expressed 
a  wish  to  join  her  husband,  Catherine  peremptorily 
refused,  on  the  plea  that  he  was  a  Huguenot ;  and 
Margaret,  on  her  return  to  Paris,  heard  the  king,  her 
brother,  express  his  dissatisfaction  at  the  conditions 
of  the  peace,  and  avow  that  they  had  been  granted 
solely  to  withdraw  the  Duke  of  Anjou  from  the  coa- 
lition.^ Popular  discontent  at  the  treaty  had  been 
early  manifested;  the  walls  of  the  capital  had  been 
covered  with  satirical  placards  against  its  negotia- 
tors ;  the   clergy  had  neglected  a  royal  ordinance, 

*  Sully,  torn.  i.  liv.  i.  p.  67. 

t  Amirault,  p.  192. 

i  "  Navarrus  qui  serius  se  ad  paries  applicuit,  scrius  quoque  promissa 
ex  pace  commoda  setisit,  et  aliquamdiu  circa  Niortium  teinpus  vena- 
tSonis  specie  contrivit." — I)e  Thou,  l.xiii.  1. 

$  Mem.  de  la  lieyne  Marguerite,  lorn.  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  Ul. 

Vol.  n.— L 


122  AMBITION  OF  [CH.  XIV. 

enjoining  the  solemnization  of  a  Te  Deum  ;  and  even 
the  rabble  had  evinced  coldness  in  assisting  at  the 
customary  boisterous  testimonials  of  public  joy,  bon- 
fires and  illuminations.* 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Ambitious  Projects  of  the  Duke  of  Guise — Origin  and  Progress  of  the 
League — Memoir  of  Nicolas  David — First  ;?tates  General  at  Blois — 
The  King  declares  himself  Chief  of  the  League— The  King  of  Navarre 
appointed  Protector  of  the  Huguenots — Frivolity  of  Henry  UL — Disad- 
vantageous circumstances  of  the  Huguenots — Beza  and  the  Ministers 
oppose  Negotiation — Peace  of  Bergerac — IXth  National  Synod — Cor- 
ruption of  the  Court — The  Minions — Second  Flight  of  the  Duke  of 
Anjou— Treaty  of  Nerac— Xth  National  Synod — War  rashly  renewed 
by  the  Huguenots — Peace  of  Fleix. 

Little  as  it  was  Henry's  intention  to  observe  the 
conditions  of  this  peace,  its  very  signature  exposed 
him  to  far  greater  dangers  than  any  with  which  he 
could  have  been  menaced  by  the  most  triumphant 
ascendency  of  the  Huguenots.  At  no  period  during 
which  the  Reformed  were  in  arms  do  they  appear  to 
have  entertained  any  object  beyond  the  establish- 
ment of  a  free  toleration  of  their  religion  ;  but  there 
existed  in  the  kingdom  another  and  a  most  powerful 
faction  not  without  hope  of  attaining  undue  aggran- 
dizement by  every  mistake  into  which  the  weak 
monarch  who  now  swayed  the  sceptre  should  be  be- 
trayed. The  Duke  of  Guise,  who  inherited  all  the 
brilliant  qualities  of  his  father,  and  at  least  equalled 
him  in  ambition,  had  unsuccessfully  aspired  during 
the  late  reign  to  alliance  with  the  house  of  Valois 
by  marriage  with  the  Princess  Margaret.  Henry,  as 
Duke  of  Anjou,  had  professed  warm  friendship  to 
this  nobleman,  which,  however,  had  subsided  into 

*  Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  i.  p.  167. 


A.  D.  1576.]  THE  DUKE   OF  GUISE.  123 

indifference  since  liis  accession  to  the  throne  ;  and 
Guise,  irritated  by  the  coldness  of  his  reception  at 
court,  now  sought  to  elevate  upon  popular  support 
that  influence  in  the  state  which  his  prince  had  re- 
fused to  concede.  It  has  been  doubted  whether  the 
lofty  projects  which  he  ultimately  meditated  could 
have  developed  themselves  even  to  his  own  mind, 
while  an  heir-presumptive  to  the  throne  existed  in 
the  person  of  the  king's  brother.  We  tliink,  how- 
ever, there  is  evidence,  which  we  shall  presently  ad- 
vance, to  show  that  he  thus  early  contemplated  a 
change  in  the  dynasty;  and  even  if  he  constructed 
his  gigantic  political  machinery  with  no  further  ob- 
ject, at  first,  than  that  of  rendering  himself  indepen- 
dent on  the  favour  of  the  crown,  its  mighty  frame- 
work, at  a  later  season,  placed  the  crown  itself 
almost  within  his  grasp. 

From  the  very  commencement  of  the  war  of  re- 
ligion, private  associations  had  arisen,  from  time  to 
time,  in  the  provinces,  with  the  avowed  intention  of 
erecting  a  barrier  against  the  Huguenots  ;*  and  the 
more  zealous  Romanists,  alarmed  at  the  pertinacity 
of  the  Reformed,  had  banded  together  in  order  to 
promote  their  depression.  But,  although  the  prin- 
ciple upon  which  these  petty  confederacies  were 
framed  was  unfriendly  to  subordination,  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  excited  much  notice,  nor  to  have 
at  all  impeded  the  free  movements  of  government. 
The  sagacity  of  Guise  at  once  perceived  how  pow- 
erful an  engine  would  be  placed  at  his  command,  if 
he  could  combine  these  scattered  and  isolated 
bodies  into  one  great  general  union,  of  which 
himself  should  be  the  leader ;  and  the  dissatisfac- 
tion created  by  the  recent  peace  afforded  him  a 
favourable  moment  for  tlie  attempt.  On  many  ac- 
counts it  was  advisable  that  this  scheme  should  first 
emanate  from  the  capital,  which  had  ever  afforded 

*  L'Art  de  verifier  Its  Dates,  torn.  i.p.  649i 


124  ORIGIN  OF  [CH.  XIV. 

to  the  house  of  Guise  its  strongest  hold  upon  popu- 
larity, and  whose  example,  it  was  justly  thought, 
could  not  fail  to  win  numerous  followers  in  the  prov- 
inces. Agents  for  this  purpose  were  readily  found 
in  a  licentious  and  unruly  metropolis  ;  and  a  few 
desperate  men  of  broken  fortunes  and  debauched 
habits,  looking  to  revolution  as  the  most  prolific 
source  from  which  they  might  hope  to  replenish 
their  purses,  to  gratify  their  ambition,  and  to  satiate 
their  voluptuousness,  formed  the  nucleus  round 
which  vi^as  to  be  gathered  the  formidable  conspiracy 
of  the  League. 

As  a  lure  to  the  unwary,  it  was  at  first  whispered 
that  the  king  himself,  unwilling  to  appear  openly 
in  the  project,  approved  and  encouraged  it  in  se- 
cret ;  and  many  of  the  richer  and  well-aftected  citi- 
zens, thus  blinded  to  the  danger  of  organizing  a 
body  which  in  the  end  might  overrule  their  legiti- 
mate rulers,  and  hurried  on  by  a  zealous  abhorrence 
of  the  Huguenots,  frequented  the  private  assemblies 
of  the  factious.  A  few,  more  prudent  than  their 
brethren,  felt  surprised  that  a  design  which  was 
supposed  to  be  indirectly  authorized  by  the  king 
should  still  be  without  sanction  from  any  of  the 
king's  ministers ;  and  they  accordingly  made  closer 
inquiries  of  a  magistrate  on  whose  wisdom  and  in- 
tegrity they  reposed  unlimited  confidence.  The 
First  President,  De  Thou,  whom  they  consulted,  at 
once  declared  his  own  entire  ignorance  of  the  con- 
federacy, his  belief  that  it  was  formed  without  the 
king's  knowledge,  and  his  conviction  of  its  impol- 
icy ;  and  concluded  by  advising  that  they  should  ab- 
stain from  connexion  with  it.* 

The  impediments  thus  unexpectedly  opposed  in 
the  capital  determined  the  Guises  to  seek  strength 
by  obtaining  more  open  avowals  from  some  of  the 
provincial  noblesse,  who  had  assured  them  of  co- 

*  De  TUou,  Ixiii.  1. 


A»  D.   1576.]  THE  LEAGUE.  125 

operation.  It  is  not  ascertained  whether  any  formal 
document  had  been  previously  subscribed  by  the 
league  in  Paris  ;  but  one  of  the  earliest*  Acts  of 
Association  which  has  descended  to  us  was  pre- 
pared by  the  Seigneur  d'Humieres,  who  held  a  tem- 
porary command  in  Picardy.  A  personal  feud  with 
Conde.t  and  a  well-founded  apprehension  that  if 
that  prince  were  once  allowed  to  re-enter  his  gov- 
ernment his  own  power  would  be  at  an  end,  stimu- 
lated D'Humieres  to  great  activity.  He  was  popu- 
lar both  among  his  brother  gentry  and  the  rich  bour- 
geois of  the  large  towns  ;  and  lie  readily  obtained 
numerous  signatures  to  a  solemn  engagement  which 
he  proposed  to  the  following  eflect  :J — the  under- 
signed declared,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
that  they  would  exercise  their  utmost  power  to 
preserve  their  ancient  worship,  according  to  the 
rites  of  the  true  Apostolical  Church,  rejecting  all 
the  errors  by  which  it  was  opposed  ;  that  they 
would  defend  their  king  Henry  III.,  maintaining 
the  duty,  obedience,  and  reverence  which  they 
owed  him  as  subjects,  as  should  be  more  fully  ex- 
pressed in  the  approaching  States-General ;  and  that 
they  would  assert,  for  all  the  provinces  in  tlie  king- 
dom and  the  several  orders  contained  in  them,  those 
ancient  rights,  prerogatives,  immunities,  and  liber- 
ties which  they  had  possessed  in  the  time  of  Clovis, 
the  founder  of  Christianity  in  France. 

The  clause  last  noticed,  l)y  its  vague  and  indefi- 
nite wording,  opened  a  door  through  which  the 
League  might  direct  its  reforming  powers  to  any 

*  La  Popeliniere  gives  the  substance  of  a  league  entered  into  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Poiloii,  in  1575.     Tom.  ii.  lib.  xxxix.  p.  267. 

t  Davila,  lib.  vi.  torn.  i.  p.  355. 

t  This  Ligue  de  Peruiine,  as  it  is  termed,  may  be  found  verbatim, 
among  other  places,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Chronologie  Noi^ennaire  of 
the  apostate  Huguenot  minister,  fayet.  Uavila,  lib.  vi.  torn.  i.  p.  356, 
and  DeThou,  Ixiii.  I.  have  abstracted  it  fiiithfully.  Other  leagues,  with 
occasional  slight  variations  of  form,  are  given  by  U'Aiibign6,  Hist.  Univ. 
torn.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  3,  and  in  the  Mimoires  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  116, 
438,  627. 

L2 


126  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  LEAGUE.        [cH.  XIV. 

object,  however  unconnected  with  religion,  the  sole 
avowed  purpose  for  its  construction.  But  the  arti- 
cles which  succeeded  were  yet  more  dangerous  ; 
for  they  virtually  transferred  all  supremacy  from 
the  crown  to  the  future  leader,  whoever  he  might 
be,  of  this  self-constituted  association.  The  con- 
federates bound  themselves  by  oath  to  dedicate,  not 
only  their  fortunes,  but  their  lives  also,  to  suppress 
any  opponents  of  the  League  and  to  obtain  the  ful- 
filment of  its  conditions:  to  avenge  every  injury 
offered  to  their  associates,  either  by  an  ordinary  ap- 
peal to  the  magistrates  or  by  an  extraordinary  as- 
sumption of  arms,  without  any  respect  whatsoever 
of  persons:  to  consider  any  inhabitant  of  the 
provinces  who  declined  connexion  with  their  band 
as  a  traitor  and  a  renegade  from  God,  to  enforce  his 
punishment  with  unremitting  severity,  and  to  as- 
sure its  agents  of  entire  impunity  ;*  to  create  a 
chief  of  the  League  to  whom  all  of  them  would 
yield  prompt,  implicit,  and  unconditional  obedience, 
and  who  might  punish  the  negligent  or  the  refrac- 
tory at  his  pleasure :  to  invite  all  their  fellow-sub- 
jects to  communicate  with  them ;  to  supply,  ac- 
cording to  the  extent  of  each  man's  ability,  arms, 
troops,  and  money  ;  to  resort  in  all  disputes  to  the 
arbitration  of  their  chief,  and  not  to  appeal  to  the 
magistrates  without  his  permission. 

Similar  terms  of  union  were  signed  by  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Poitou  and  of  some  other  provinces ;  and 
however    secretly   these    negotiations  were   con- 


*  In  one  league  given  in  the  3Um.  de  Nevers  (that  of  Champagne  en 
Brie,  Dec.  11,  1576),  this  clause  is  couched  in  very  terrific  language.  "Et 
81  auscun  desdits  I'atholiques  de  ladite  province  api^s  avoir  este  requis 
d'eiurer  en  ladile  a.ssociatlon  faisoit  dilliculte,  ou  usest  de  loiigueurs,  at- 
tendu  que  ce  n'est  que  pour  I'honneur  de  Dieu,  le  service  du  Roy,  le 
bien  et  repos  de  U  I'atrie,  scrd  esiinie  en  tout  le  pays  ennciny  de  Dieu  et 
deserteur  de  sa  Religion,  rebelle  A  son  Roy,  trailre  el  prodileur  de  sa 
Patrie,  ct  du  coniinun  consentemcnt  de  tousles  gtMisde  bion  ahandonne 
de  tous,  delaisst'^  et  expost  A  toules  injures  et  oppressions  qui  luy  pour- 
ront  survenir,  sans  qu'il  soit  jamtnais  reeeu  en  compagnie,  atiiitie,  et 
alliance  des  susdiis  associez  et  confedere/.." — Tom.  i.  p.  116. 


A.  D.    1576.]  NICOLAS  DAVID.  127 

ducted,  enough  relative  to  them  could  not  fail  to 
transpire  so  as  to  awakenajust,  although  a  somewhat 
undefined,  suspicion  in  the  mind  of  Henry.  Before 
the  close  of  the  year,  a  very  extraordinary  docu- 
ment, published  by  the  Huguenots,  and  circulated 
with  great  activity,  must  have  removed  every  doubt 
of  the  treasonable  designs  of  the  Duke  of  Guise. 
It  appears  that  among  the  agents  employed  by  his 
party  was  a  Gascon  advocate,  Nicolas  David  ;  a  man 
of  ill-repute,  and  of  whom,  among  other  matters 
tending  to  his  disgrace,  it  had  been  remarked  that 
he  undertook  causes  so  little  worthy  of  support,  or 
conducted  them  so  unskilfully,  that  in  no  instance 
had  he  ever  pleaded  with  success  before  the  parlia- 
ment of  Paris.  Some  injury  which  he  had  suffered 
from  the  Huguenots  during  the  former  wars  engen- 
dered in  him  the  deadliest  hostility  against  their 
church  ;  and,  burning  with  a  desire  of  revenge 
which  the  recent  edict  prevented  him  from  com- 
passing by  other  means,  he  tendered  his  services  to 
the  chief  promoters  of  the  League.  By  them  he 
was  employed  on  a  secret  mission  to  Rome  ;  where 
he  was  to  communicate  with  the  i)ope,  through  the 
mediation  of  the  Cardinal  de  Pelleve,  an  inveterate 
partisan  of  the  house  of  Guise.*  While  on  his  re- 
turn from  that  diplomacy,  he  fell  sick  and  died  at 
Lyons  ;  and  one  document  among  his  papers,  which 
by  accident  had  fallen  into  the  possession  of  the  Hu- 
guenots, was  discovered  to  be  so  important  as  to 
justify  its  publication.! 

This  instrument  contained  the  heads  of  a  secret 
conference  held  between  Gregory  XHI.  and  some 
of  his  most  confidential  advisers.  It  stated  that 
since  the  usurpation  of  the  crown  of  France  by 
Hugh  Capet,  the  apostolical  benediction,  which  had 
rested  peculiarly  upon  the  Carlovingian  line,|  had 

*  Antico  aWet'odella  Casade  Guud.    Davila,  lib.  vi.  torn.  i.  p.  358. 

t  De  Thou,  Ixiii.  8. 

{  The  nature  of  this  pretended  benediction  is  explained  by  De  Thou, 


128  MEMOIR  OF  [cH.  XIV. 

been  converted  into  a  curse,  rendering:  his  succes- 
sors disobedient  to  the  holy  see.  Through  that 
curse  had  been  introduced  the  damnable  error  called 
the  liberty  of  the  Gallican  Church  ;  which,  in  truth, 
in  former  times  had  been  nothing  else  than  an  asy- 
lum for  the  Valdenses,  the  Albigenses,  and  the  Pau- 
vres  of  Lyons,  and  now  offered  similar  immunities 
to  the  Lutherans.  Through  that  curse  also  the  vic- 
tories gained  over  the  heretics,  sixteen  years  ago, 
had  been  rendered  fruitless  ;  and  through  it  France 
would  continue  subjected  to  an  evil  influence, so  long 
as  the  sceptre  should  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
family  of  Capet. 

For  there  is  no  one,  continued  this  remarkable 
document,  who  must  not  perceive  that  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  race  of  Capet  are  driven  headlong  by  a 
reprobate  spirit.  Some  among  them,  labouring 
under  aberrations  of  intellect,  are  stupid,  dull,  and 
heavy  :  others,  detestable  alike  by  God  and  man  on 
account  of  their  heresies,  are  rejected  and  pro- 
scribed from  all  communion  with  the  church.  For 
the  most  part,  they  perish  in  the  very  flower  of  their 
age,  without  heaving  issue  ;  and  it  appears  as  if  the 
succession  would  be  transferred  to  absolute  here- 
tics, to  the  great  injury  of  the  apostolic  see.  The 
leading  object,  therefore,  of  all  true  Catholics  ought 
to  be  to  restore  the  crown  to  the  legitimate  heirs  of 
Charlemagne. 

A  plan  of  operations,  in  order  to  produce  that  de- 

ibid.  When  Pope  Stephen  II.  visited  France,  A.  D.  T63,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain assistance  from  Popin,  lie  was  attacked  by  a  dangerous  sickness. 
His  cure  was  effected  while  he  was  sleeping  in  the  church  of  St.  Denys, 
where  St.  Peter  and  Si,  Paul,  in  a  beatific  vision,  conunanded  linn  to 
anoint  Pepin  and  his  sons  kings.  The  nobles  in  consequence  made  a 
solemn  vow  never  to  admit  any  but  a  descendant  of  Pepin  to  wear  the 
crown   of  France.     Ex   Epistold   Stephani  11.   a  Regmone  Piumiens 

Abbatf   in  Chnniicis  ctmimeinoinid,  sub   anno    DCLllI 

guild  idem  n  Siaibcrto  pmditur.  The  editors  ofthe  M  moires  de  la  Ligtie 
vehemently  defend  this  legend.  After  giving  a  French  translation  of  the 
letter,  they  affirm,  Ics  fints  qu'elle  conticnt  sont  i:rais,  et  nos  meillnirs 
Histonens  Ecclesiastrives  ii'en  out  revoques  aucnn  m  donte.  Le  Ridi- 
evle  que  le  Traducteur  y  suppose  est  sans/ondcment.    Tom.  i'  p.  151. 


A.  D.  1576.]        NICOLAS  DAVID.  129 

sired  result,  was  then  suggested.  Exciting  and  spi- 
rit-stirring sermons  were  to  be  preached  in  all  the 
great  cities  ;  and  the  abominable  assemblies  of  the 
heretics  permitted  by  the  late  edict  were  to  be  alto- 
gether prevented.  The  king  was  to  be  advised  not 
to  suppress  the  popular  movements  which  might 
succeed,  but  in  private  to  commit  unlimited  power 
to  the  Duke  of  Guise  ;  who,  sanctioned  by  the  royal 
authority,  would  connect  himself  with  all  the  no- 
bility and  leading  citizens,  and  bind  them  by  oath 
not  to  recognise  any  other  chief  than  himself.  The 
priests  throughout  the  kingdom  were  to  furnish  him 
with  lists  of  every  male  in  their  separate  cures  ca- 
pable of  bearing  arms;  all  of  whom  should  be  im- 
bodied  under  captains  despatched  to  each  parish. 
The  priests  also  were  to  be  enjoined  to  exhort  these 
conscripts  during  confession,  and  to  lay  before  them 
the  justice  and  righteousness  of  the  war  in  which 
they  were  about  to  be  engaged.  The  king  would 
convene  the  States  General  (a  pit  which  the  heretics 
were  said  to  have  dug  for  themselves)  with  all  due 
regard  to  ancient  and  established  forms;  and  he 
would  endeavour  to  allure  to  them  the  King  of  Na- 
varre and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  denouncing  them  as 
rebels  and  traitors  if  they  should  disobey.  To  dis- 
pel all  suspicion,  the  Duke  of  Guise  would  quit  the 
court  under  some  pretext  of  affront ;  and  the  king 
would  receive  and  entertain  with  the  uttermost 
good-will  and  cheerfulness  all  those  whom  he 
wished  to  inspire  with  confidence.  About  the  time 
of  the  opening  of  the  States  General,  the  captains  in 
the  several  parishes  would  review  their  troops,  and 
prepare  a  chosen  body  of  them  for  active  service. 
The  several  deputies  of  the  states  would  be  bound 
by  oath  to  abide  by  the  decrees  of  that  assembly  ; 
and  the  pope  should  be  requested  to  ratify  those 
decrees  whatever  they  might  be,  and  to  give  them 
autliority  equal  to  that  possessed  by  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction.     In  order  to  prepare  the   way  for  the 


130  MEMOIR  OF  [CH.  XIV. 

downfall  of  the  Capets,  it  should  then  be  decreed, 
that  if  any  prince  of  the  blood  dared  to  appeal 
against  the  decision  of  the  states,  he  should  for 
ever  be  excluded  from  his  chance  of  succession  :  if 
any  noble  did  the  like,  he  should  be  stripped  of 
whatever  dignity  or  high  office  he  might  hold  ;  be 
subjected  to  confiscation  of  all  his  property ;  if  he 
were  present,  be  condemned  to  capital  punishment ; 
if  absent,  be  executed  in  effigy  and  have  a  price  set 
upon  his  head.  The  king  should  next  be  absolved 
by  the  pope  from  the  oaths  by  which  he  had  rati- 
fied his  concessions  to  the  heretics  ;  and  a  given 
time  having  been  allowed  them  for  reconciliation  to 
the  church,  all  recusants  should  be  punished  as 
traitors. 

To  prevent  any  impediment  to  the  rapid  fulfilment 
of  this  scheme,  by  risings  in  the  provinces,  the  king 
should  be  prevailed  upon  to  nominate,  as  lieutenant- 
general,  some  nobleman  of  distinguished  military 
skill,  fitted  to  the  toils  of  war  by  spirit,  temper, 
youth,  and  bodily  activity,  and  who,  more  especially, 
had  ever  manifested  himself  altogether  free  from  any 
spot  or  stain  of  heretical  contagion.  It  was  obvious 
that  in  the  Duke  of  Guise  all  those  qualifications 
were  united.  Next,  the  Duke  of  Anjou  should  be 
admonished  of  the  great  wickedness  which  he  had 
committed  in  deserting  the  king  his  brother,  and  in 
becoming  a  companion  and  leader  of  heretics ;  in 
having  extorted  more  than  his  due  portion  of  apa- 
nage, and  in  having  obtained  license  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  execrable  Huguenot  worship  throughout 
all  PVance.  For  these  highest  of  all  treasons  against 
powers  divine  as  well  as  human,  he  had  placed  him- 
self beyond  the  reach  of  pardon.  Judges  therefore 
should  be  appointed  to  sentence  him,  having  before 
their  eyes  the  most  holy  and  most  pious  example  of 
the  Catholic  king,  who  had  not  spared  even  his  only 
son.* 

*  "  Juxta  sanctissimum  et  piissimum  excmplum  Regis  Catholici  qui 

unifo  fllio  suo  lion  prperrit." 


A.  D.  1576.]  NICOL.VS    DAVID,  13'1 

Oil  the  day  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  stales,  the 
niiUtia  organized  in  the  several  parislies,  and  all  the 
other  disposable  forces  of  the  kingdom  should  be 
assembled  to  arrest  the  Duke  of  Anjou  and  his  ac- 
complices ;  to  attack  and  put  to  the  sword  through- 
out France  all  heretics,  their  friends,  and  fosterers  ; 
and  to  confiscate  their  property  towards  the  support 
of  the  expenses  of  this  war.  Thus  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  placed  at  the  head  of  a  very  powerful  army, 
would  easily  subdue  the  insurgent  provinces ;  and 
by  ravaging  and  wasting  the  country  far  and  wide, 
with  fire  and  sword,  and  by  sacking  or  starving  the 
fortified  towns,  he  would  save  all  the  time  which  on 
a  former  occasion  had  been  fruitlessly  expended  in 
the  regular  siege  of  La  Rochelle. 

Having  triumphantly  opened  a  passage  into  the 
chief  cities  of  the  kingdom,  and  conciliated  the  at- 
tachment of  the  nobility,  the  Duke  of  Guise  should 
then  proceed  to  the  execution  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
and  his  companions  in  crime  ;  and  in  the  end,  by 
the  permission  and  advice  of  his  holiness,  he  should 
confine  the  king  and  queen  in  a  monastery  ;  follow- 
ing the  example  of  his  royal  ancestor  Pepin,  who, 
having  entrapped  King  Childeric  by  similar  strata- 
gems, forced  him  into  a  cloister.  In  this  manner, 
the  secular  heirdom  of  the  French  crown  would 
become  reunited  with  the  apostolic  benediction, 
which  of  right  belongs  only  to  a  descendant  of 
Charlemagne ;  the  holy  see  would  recover  its  an- 
cient dignity,  power,  and  authority ;  and  what  are 
called  the  privileges  of  the  Gallican  Church  would 
be  abrogated  ;  the  pope  having  first  bound  himself 
by  oath  to  administer  his  rights  with  justice  and  in- 
tegrity.* 

*  Darid's  Mtmoire  is  printed  in  French,  at  the  beginning  of  vol.  i.  of 
the  Jdimoircs  ite  la  lAsue,  where  Ihe  original  date  stands  Lyons,  Nov. 
15,  1576.  Its  substance  is  given  by  De  Thou,  Ixiii.  8.  We  have  used  a 
Latin  translation.  "  Suinnia  secreli  cujusdam  consilii  habiti  inter  Pa- 
pain et  viros  quosdain  quibus  maxiine  fidcbai,  rcperia  inter  schtdus 


132  FIRST    STATES    GENERAL  [cH.  XIV. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  a  project  thus 
daring  should  have  been  committed  undisguisedly  to 
paper  and  exposed  to  the  hazard  of  that  interception 
which  really  befell  it ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  re- 
concile the  exact  coincidence  in  many  particulars 
between  the  line  of  conduct  really  pursued  by  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  both  at  the  time  and  in  after  years, 
and  that  here  lai'd  down  for  him,  unless  we  suppose 
that  his  intentions  had  been  confidentially  revealed 
to  David.  The  king,  prejudiced  in  favour  of  the 
avowed  principles  of  the  family  of  Lorraine,  and 
inflamed  with  hatred  against  the  Reformed,  at  first 
doubted  the  authenticity  of  this  statement,  and  main-- 
tained  that  the  scheme  which  it  detailed  was  too 
atrocious  to  deserve  credit.  He  was  undeceived  by 
his  ambassador  at  Madrid,  who  transmitted  from 
that  court  a  copy  of  the  original  paper,  which  had 
been  offered  by  the  Leaguers  to  the  King  of  Spain 
for  his  approval.*  Henry,  thus  awakened  to  the 
real  design  of  the  League,  for  a  while  dissembled 
his  knowledge  ;  and  afterward  thought  to  elude  by 
stratagem  the  peril  which  he  had  not  the  courage  to 
encounter  front  to  front. 
The  States  General  assembled  at  Blois  about  the 


Aclvocali  Davidis,  1576."  This  version  occurs  as  the  first  document  in  a 
Colluciion  primed  at  Frankfort  in  ].'>86.  "  De  postremis  motibus  GalliOB 
varia  uiriusque  parcis  scripta  scilu  dignissim.!." 

*  "  Postea,  iisdem  in  Hispaniam  missis,  ut  cum  Pllilippo  communica- 
rentur,  .loannes  Vivonus  Sangoartius  qui  Regis  Oratorem  istic  agebat, 
vir  supra  nalaliuni  splendorern  viriutebellirft  et  fide  erga  Regem  insig- 
nis,  el  alio(mi  niaxiinc  oinniiiiii  A  Protcstantium  partibiis  alienus,  excm- 
plum  eoruni  riactus  sialiiii  ad  regem  perl'creiiduui  curavit;  ut  milii  ipse 
postea  narravit."— Ue  'I'hon,  Ixiii.  8.  The  concluding  words,  which  rest 
the  fact  upon  personal  knowledge,  as  is  so  often  tlie  case  with  Ue  Thou, 
are  decisive  as  to  its  truth.  Davila,  while  strongly  impugning  (he 
authenticity  of  David's  Mimoire,  unwittingly  corroborates  Ue  Thoii's 
account.  "  Ma  molto  piil  di  questa  divulgatione,  universalmcnte  creduta 
falsa,  empierono  il  Re  di  sospelto  le  Letlere  de  Monsignore  dl  San  Goart, 
Ambasciadore  sno  residenle  alia  Corte  de  Spagna,  il  quale  I'awisava 
d'havere  scoperto,  chc  alcuni  collegati  Catolici  de  Francia  Irattavono 
streltaniente  negotii  secret!  a  quella  forte." — lib.  vi.  torn.  i.  p.  359.  The 
Italian  historian  plainly  did  not  know  that  St.  Goart  effected  Henry'8 
conviction  by  enclosing  in  his  despatches  a  copy  of  David's  Mcmoire. 


A.  D.  ioTf).]  AT    BLOiS.  133 

middle  of  November,*  and  the  king,  accompanied 
by  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  who  had  reappeared  at  court, 
opened  the  sittings  with  much  solemnity  on 
the  Gth  of  December.  Guise  himself  was  ^'^'  ' 
at  first  absent ;  but  a  great  majority  of  the  provin- 
cial deputies  were  in  his  interest,  and  had  absolutely 
subscribed  the  League.  One  of  their  earliest  propo- 
sals must  have  increased  the  king's  conviction  of  a 
settled  design  to  invade  his  prerogative.  In  order, 
as  was  said,  to  expedite  the  progress  of  business, 
they  requested  him  to  permit  the  appointment  of 
certain  commissioners,  whose  duty  should  be  to  con- 
fer with  twelve  of  the  deputies ;  and  they  prayed 
also  that  the  decisions  of  the  body  so  constituted 
should  have  the  authority  of  law,  and  be  irrevocable 
and  without  appeal.  The  king  listened  with  gentle- 
ness to  this  insidious  application,  which  so  remark- 
ably confirmed  one  part  of  David's  statement.  To 
accept  it  would  have  been  to  transfer  his  sovereignty 
to  the  states  ;  and  he  replied  that  he  would  receive 
their  twelve  deputies  promptly  and  graciously,  when- 
ever they  should  request  an  audience,  and  would 
deliberate  with  his  council  on  the  questions  which 
they  might  submit  to  him  ;  that  he  would  acquaint 
the  states,  as  some  of  his  predecessors  had  done 
before  him,  with  the  names  of  those  personages  who 
composed  his  council,  so  that  they  might  form  a 
judgment  of  their  qualifications ;  but  that  he  never 
would  consent  to  administer  the  government  by  any 
other  rule  than  that  which  the  ancient  constitution 
prescribed.! 

*  A  Journal  of  the  transactions  of  these  States  General,  kept  hy  Oon- 
7.ague,  Uukenf  Nevers,  is  printed  in  vol.  lii.  of  the  your/ia/  dv  Henri  UI. 
Alihoujfh  It  occupies  166  pages,  it  presents  but  a  very  dry  and  meager 
skeleton.  Sometimes,  however,  the  outlines  of  grave  business  are  re- 
lieved by  notices  of  lighter  ni;itter;  as  that  one  of  t'atherine's  maids  of 
honour  was  dismissed  for  making  an  assignation  «  minuit  en  CcUlee  de 
devant  leU7  chambre  (p.  187) ;  or  th.it  Le  Roy  commence  a  porter  det 
pendnns  d'oreille.  re  qu'il  n'avoit  fait  plusieiirs  mois  sont  (p.  152). 

t  Uavila,  lib.  vi.  lom.  i.  p.  366.     Journal  de  Nevers,  p.  78. 

Vol.  II.— M 


134  HENRY  CHIKF  OF  THIi  LEAGUE.         [cH.  XIV. 

Happy  would  it  have  been  for  Henry  if  he  had 
throughout  evinced  similar  firmness.  Perceiving 
that  the  majority  of  the  states  were  about  to  hurry 
him  into  a  renewal  of  war,  without  sufficiently  pro- 
viding for  its  exigencies,  he  endeavoured  to  gain 
time  by  opening  a  negotiation  with  the  Huguenot 
leaders.  But  he  had  already  taken  a  fatal  step,  by 
which  all  their  confidence  in  his  sincerity  was  de- 
stroyed. The  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde  had  been  far  too  cautious  to  place  themselves 
at  the  mercy  of  their  enemies  by  obeying  the  royal 
summons  to  Blois,  but  they  were  represented  there 
by  deputies,  who  supplied  them  with  accurate  intelli- 
gence. Through  that  channel  they  were  informed 
that  Henry  had  already  signed  the  League, 

"^''-  ^^-  and  had  declared  himself  its  chief.*  The 
short-sighted  prince,  eagerly  catching  at  the  mo- 
mentary advantage  to  be  derived  by  the  substitution 
of  his  own  name  for  that  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  de- 
graded himself  from  the  lofty  post  of  common  father 
of  his  people,  and  became  the  head  of  a  cabal.  The 
warlike  aspect  of  the  states,  their  undisguised 
avowal  that  they  would  not  permit  the  existence  of 
more  than  one  religion  in  France,  and  the  virtual 
adoption  of  that  principle  by  the  king  when  he  joined 
the  League,  had  determined  Navarre^  Conde,  and 
D'Amville  upon  immediate  measures  of  precaution. 
Not  awaiting  an  open  declaration  of  the  hostilities 
which  they  foresaw  were  inevitable,  they  strength- 
ened themselves  for  the  approaching  contest  by 
occupying  such  fortresses  as  were  at  their  command ; 
by  protesting  against  the  legality  of  the  states,  and 
by  negotiating  a  counter-league  with  the  northern 
kingdoms,  with  England,  and  with  the  Protestants 
of  Germany.  Navarre  was  declared  protector,  and 
Conde  his  lieutenant-general. 

War,  indeed,  although  not  yet  proclaimed,  had  in 
truth  began  before  the  close  of  the  year  1576  ;  and 

*  De  Thou,  btiii.  9. 


A.  D.  1576.]  I   GELOSI.  135 

many  gallant  acts,  and,  alas  !  many  atrocious  cruel- 
ties arising  from  it,  may  be  found  in  the  memoirs  of 
the  times.  But  from  such  details,  powerful  as  is 
their  interest,  we  must  henceforward  sedulously  for- 
bear. The  period  upon  which  we  are  now  entering 
is  most  abundant  in  secret  and  minute  history ;  in 
materials  greatly  differing  in  value,  and  requiring 
close  examination  and  a  well-poised  judgment,  if  we 
would  separate  the  authentic  from  the  doubtful.  To 
the  chivalrous  personal  career  which  Henry  of  Na- 
varre now  commenced,  whole  volumes  might  justly 
be  dedicated  ;  but  it  has  been  frequently  and  bril- 
liantly related  by  other  pens.  If,  therefore,  in  our 
future  pages,  we  pass  rapidly  over  many  transac- 
tions which  it  costs  no  small  sacrifice  of  inclination 
to  dismiss  with  a  mere  summary  notice,  the  reader 
must  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  writing  neither  a 
history  of  the  wars  of  the  League  nor  a  Life  of 
Henry  IV.,  and  that  in  the  annals  of  the  Reformed 
Religion  in  France,  the  foremost  position  ought  ever 
to  be  occupied  by  the  Huguenot  Church. 

The  apprehension  of  danger  failed  to  awaken  the 
weak  king  from  his  voluptuous  lethargy.  One  of 
the  chief  difficulties  which  he  encountered  at  Blois 
arose  from  the  reluctance  of  the  states  to  feed  his 
profusion.  Nevertheless,  when  every  hard  of  the 
scanty  subsidies  which  they  furnished  was  demanded 
for  the  public  service,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  divert 
large  sums  to  the  gratification  of  his  passion  for 
frivolous  amusement.  The  Huguenots,  already  in 
arms,  had  intercepted  a  booty  which  in  their  eyes 
indeed  possessed  little  value  ;  or  which,  to  speak 
more  precisely,  was  viewed  by  them  with  disgust 
and  abhorrence ;  but  owing  to  the  widely  opposite 
habits  of  the  court,  it  was  redeemed  by  a  very  con- 
siderable payment.  Henry  was  transporting  from 
Venice  a  company  of  players",  T  Gelosi ;  and  the  sur- 
render of  his  chief  city  would,  perhaps,  have  oc- 
casioned him  less  real  sorrow  than  the  interruption 


136    WEAKNESS  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.   [cH.  XIV. 

of  pleasure  which  he  suffered  by  their  untowtird 
capture.  Not  a  moment  was  lost  in  tendering  what- 
ever ransom  might  be  demanded  for  their  release  ; 
and  on  their  arrival  at  Blois,  the  very  hall  in  which 
the  deputies  were  labouring  during  the  early  part 
of  the  day  to  entangle  their  sovereign  in  vassalage 
was  devoted  by  the  careless  prince  at  night  to 
dramatic  entertainments.*  "  This  evening,"  says 
the  Duke  of  Nevers,  "  was  represented  a  pastoral  by 
the  comedians ;  notwithstanding  the  preacher  of 
the  morning  had  warned  the  king  not  to  attend,  and 
had  denounced  God's  vengeance  upon  the  little  signs 
of  amendment  which  were  evinced  in  spite  of  his 
exhortalion."t  We  hear  of  the  Gelosi  afterward,  on 
the  return  of  the  court  to  Paris,  as  continuing  their 
performances  in  the  Hotel  de  Bourbon.  Although 
the  price  of  admission  was  high,  not  less  than  four 
sols  for  each  person,  we  ar^  assured  that  they  drew 
a  larger  audience  than  could  have  been  attracted  by 
the  four  best  preachers  in  the  capital,  if  they  had  held 
forth  together.^  At  length,  the  parliament,  in  an 
assembly  of  their  Mercuriales,  presented  them  as 
the  occasion  of  much  licentiousness  ;  and  although 
they  offered  letters-patent  from  the  king  as  their 
protection,  they  were  forbidden  to  play,  under  a 
penalty  of  10,000  livres  ;  but  within  two  nights  of 
this  prohibition  they  recommenced  at  the  Hotel  de 
Bourbon,  by  express  royal  command.^ 

Two  royal  armies  took  the  field  in  April ;  one, 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  besieged 
Chartres  ;  the  other,  under  that  of  Guise's  younger 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  proceeded  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  La  Rochelle.  Both  were  emi- 
nently successful ;    for  the    Huguenots,   notwith- 

•  Jnvrnxd  de  Henri  HI.  lorn.  i.  p.  202. 
t  Feb.  98.  Journal  de  Nevers,  p.  2P2. 
i  Journal  tie  Henri  HI.  ti)ni.  i.  p.  206. 

^  Id.  p.  21 1.  "  La  corrnpiion  de  ce  teins  6tant  telle  que  les  Farceurs, 
Bouffons,  Putaines,  at  Mignons  avoient  tout  credit  aupres  du  Roy." 


A.  D.  1577.]    SUCCESSES  OF  THE  ROYALISTS.  137 

standing  their  foresight  of  approaching  danger, 
were  weakened  by  internal  dissension,  inferior  in 
numbers,  and  unsupported  by  their  foreign  allies. 
The  Rochellois  manifested  an  unseasonable  distrust 
of  Conde  ;  in  the  camp  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  the 
mixture  of  Romanists  and  Reformed  produced  dis- 
union, and  in  more  than  one  instance  occasioned 
even  personal  rencounters  among  the  leaders.*  The 
austere  morals  of  the  Calvinists  little  accorded  with 
the  license  which,  agreeably  to  the  prediction  of 
Du  Plessis-Mornay,  had  been  introduced  by  the  Poli- 
iiques ;  and  the  leprosy  of  debauch  with  which  those 
formerly  pure  had  now  become  inoculated,  appears 
so  virulent  in  the  eyes  of  La  Popeliniere,  that  he 
thinks  it  "  better  to  suppress  a  history  thus  execra- 
ble than  to  bequeath  it  to  posterity."!  The  Queen 
of  England  displayed  her  usual  prudent  backward- 
ness, and  forebore  from  meddling  openly  in  the 
civil  struggles  of  France  ;  and  the  German  powers, 
still  smarting  under  a  remembrance  of  the  little 
benefit  which  they  had  derived  from  former  ser- 
vices, were  tardy  in  yielding  fresh  assistance.  In 
addition  to  these  disappointments,  D'Amville  also 
had  already  shown  signs  of  wavering  fidelity.  Not 
long  before,  when  he  had  proposed  to  the  King  of 
Navarre  that  the  Turks  might  be  invited  to  take 
possession  of  Aigues-mortes,  in  order  to  complete 
an  advantageous  peace  by  the  terror  of  their  inva- 
sion, Du  Plessis  was  instructed  to  reject  this  ex- 
treme measure  with  undissembled  disgust,  and  to 
represent,  in  a  long  and  detailed  memorial,  the  im- 

*  If  the  King  of  Navarre  himself  had  not  parted  them,  the  Marquis  de 
Lavardin,  one  of  his  Roniaiiist  otTiccrs,  and  the  discreet  and  temperate 
La  Noug  would  have  fought  in  his  presence.  Voiis  ne  scauricz  m'ap- 
prcndre  mnn  mestier,  was  the  haughty  remark  of  the  former  upon  some 
advice  which  tlie  latter  had  offered  ;  and  when  La  Noue  replied  with 
pomt  and  spirit,  Ty  aurois  trap  de  peine,  each  clapped  his  hand  upon  his 
sword.     Amirault,  p.  230. 

t  Cited  by  Amirault,  p.  228. 

M2 


138  MOTIVES    FOR    PEACE.  [cH.  XIV. 

piety  and  the  impolicy  of  a  scheme  so  offensive  both 
to  religion  and  to  patriotism.* 

La  Charite  surrendered  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou  in 
May,  and  Yssoire  was  stormed  by  him  in  June,  with 
a  fearful  destruction  of  life  and  property.!  By  the 
middle  of  August,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  having 
been  equally  victorious  at  Brouage,  which  capitu- 
lated after  a  brilliant  defence,  advanced  to  menace 
La  Rochelle.  These  symptoms  of  a  failing  cause 
put  an  end  to  the  hesitation  of  D'Amville  ;  and 
wearied  of  his  confederates  and  allured  by  promises 
from  the  court,  he  abandoned  the  association  of 
which  he  had  been  the  original  promoter,  and  ac- 
cepting the  command  of  a  division  of  royalist  troops, 
invested  Montpellier.  If  these  disasters  and  this 
treachery  inclined  Navarre  to  accept  peace,  there 
were  scarcely  less  cogent  reasons  which  induced 
the  king  to  offer  it.  His  indolent  and  effeminate 
habits  prompted  him  at  all  times  to  seek  repose  ;  he 
had  been  compelled  against  his  will  to  take  arms ; 
his  finances  were  ill  able  to  support  protracted  hos- 
tilities ;  and  from  a  natural  jealousy  arising  out  of 
the  contrast  between  his  own  feebleness  and  the 
activity  of  the  Dukes  of  Anjou  and  of  Mayenne,  he 
cared  not  how  soon  their  triumphs  were  brought  to 
a  conclusion. 

Each  party  therefore  was  ripe  for  negotiation, 
and  the  only  difficulty  which  the  King  of  Navarre 
encountered  arose  from  the  opposition  of  his  di- 
vines. In  the  early  part  of  the  summer,  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  last  edict  had  been  proffered  to  him,  and 
a  rumour  of  that  offer  having  penetrated  to  Geneva, 
called  forth  a  strong  remonstrance  from  Beza  : 
*'  You  will  forgive  the  defects,  sire,"  wrote  that 
zealous  minister,  "  of  the  advice  which  I  presume 
to  suggest,  and  you  will  attribute  its  boldness  to  the 

*  Td.  p.  210.  t  De  Thou,  Ixiii.  29,  30. 


A.  D.  1577  ]  BEZA'S  REMONSTRANCE.  139 

desire  which  I  feel  to  be  useful  according  to  my 
poor  ability,  and  to  the  great  fear  which  1  entertain 
lest  in  a  new  peace  we  should  be  treated  as  we 
have  ever  been  heretofore.  In  truth,  I  am  unable 
to  discover  how,  with  a  safe  conscience,  we  can 
agree  to  Umit  the  Spirit  of  God  to  certain  spots  and 
places ;  and  more  especially  to  exclude  it  from 
cities,  which  are  not  exposed  to  death  and  mutabil- 
ity, like  the  hearts  and  houses  of  kings  and  of  all 
other  men,  however  exalted  may  be  their  quality. 
As  little  do  I  perceive  in  what  manner  we  can  con- 
sent to  grant  entire  impunity  for  former  massacres, 
and  wholly  to  close  the  door  against  those  demands 
for  justice  to  which  God  may  one  day  give  aji  open- 
ing. It  cannot  enter  into  my  belief  that  God  will 
bless  such  reconciliation :  so  that  I  would  rather 
advise  that  we  should  place  our  heads  upon  the 
block,  and  suffer  tamely  without  resistance  (if  mat- 
ters proceed  to  such  an  extremity),  than  that  we 
should  accept  the  conditions  now  offered.  They 
tell  me  that  the  Catholics  of  Bearne  are  urgent  for 
a  restoration  of  their  worship.  But  let  me  entreat 
you  to  consider  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  be- 
tween tolerating  idolatry  for  a  season,  until  you 
have  an  opportunity  to  expel  it,  and  re-establishing 
it  after  it  has  once  been  legally  abolished ;  a  step 
which  I  cannot  but  think  would  arouse  the  grievous 
wrath  of  the  Lord,  of  which  the  issue  must  be  de- 
plorable."* -    , 

Notwithstanding  this  and  other  similar  opposition 
from  the  fervour  of  the  ministers,  a  sound  expediency 
plainly  dictated  the  acceptance  of  the  proffered 
terms.  The  treaty  signed  at  Bergerac 
and  at  Poitiers  in  September  differed  in  *•"' 
but  few  particulars  from  the  edict  which  had  termi- 
nated the  former  war.  The  king  affirmed  that  the 
decision  of  the  states  at  Blois  to  forbid  the  exercise 

*  Dated  from  Geneva,  May  18, 1577.    Amirault,  p.  233. 


140  PEACE  OF  BERGERAC.  [cH.  XIV. 

of  any  religion  in  France,  excepting  that  of  the 
true  and  Apostolical  Church,  still  appeared  to  be  the 
surest  remedy  for  intestine  trouble :  nevertheless 
that,  since  it  had  not  been  God's  will  to  allow  him 
to  reap  the  fruit  which  he  desired,  he  was  content 
to  put  an  end  to  the  sufferings  which  his  poor  peo- 
ple endured    through  war,  by  the  present   edict : 
until  it  might  please  God,  by  means  of  a  good,  free, 
and  lawful -general  council,  to  unite  all  his  subjects 
to  the  Catholic  Church.     I3y  subsequent  Articles, 
the  limits  within  which  the  exercise  of  the  Re- 
formed religion  was  forbidden  were  extended  from 
two  to  ten  leagues  round  Paris  or  the  actual  resi- 
dence of  the  court.     It  was  altogether  prohibited  in 
the  marquisate  of  Saluces  and  in  the  country  of 
Venaissin ;  certain  changes  were  made  in  the  towns 
which  the   Huguenots  were  permitted  to  occupy, 
and  in  the  number  and  constitution  of  the  my-parties 
courts.     The  more  severe  denouncers  of  the  super- 
stition of  Rome  might  perhaps  feel  deep  offence  at 
a  clause  which  enjoined  them  to  observe  all  the  fes- 
tivals established  by  that  Church ;  on  such  occa- 
sions neither  to  work  nor  to  expose  goods  for  sale ; 
and  not  to  open  the  shambles  at  times  on  which  the 
use  of  flesh  was  unlawful.     The  more  fiery  cherish- 
ers  of  party-spirit  might  lament  a  wise  enactment 
forbidding  processions  in  commemoration  of  the 
death  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  of  "  what  happened 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  1572,"*  and  of  all  other 
acts  which  might  refresh  the  memory  of  past  trou- 
bles.     But  every   Huguenot    must   have   received 
with  joy  an  ordinance  by  which  all  leagues,  fellow- 
ships, and  associations  were  declared  to  be  can- 
celled and  annulled. 

Equal  satisfaction  appears  to  have  been  felt  by  the 
leaders  on  both  sides  at  the  ratification  of  this 
peace.  The  king  spoke  of  it  as  his  oivn  edict ;  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  who  received  it  late  at  night  at 

*  De  ce  advient  le  jour  St.  Bartlielemy.    Edit  tie  Pacification.    Art. 
xxxvii.    Mini,  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  290. 


A.  D.   1578.]    NIXTH   NATIONAL    SYNOD.  141 

La  Rochelle,  ordered  it  to  be  proclaimed  at  the 
moment  by  torch-light;*  La  Noue,  who  wss  des- 
patched by  the  King  of  Navarre  to  the  Huguenots 
of  Languedoc,  had  the  singular  good  fortune  to 
arrive  in  time  to  prevent  much  fruitless  bloodshed  ; 
and  his  adventure  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the 
uncertainty  always  attending  war  when  conducted 
by  independent  partisanship.  As  he  entered  the 
plain  which  skirts  the  walls  of  Montpellier,  he  dis- 
covered not  far  off  two  large  bodies  of  troops  in 
hostile  array.  The  orders  for  engagement  had  been 
issued,  and  the  forlorn  hopes  on  either  side  were 
already  in  motion  to  commence  skirmishing. f  La 
Noue  at  once  recognised  the  forces  of  D'Amville 
who  besieged  the  town,  and  those  of  Chatillon  who 
had  hastened  to  its  relief.  He  ordered  his  courier 
to  blow  two  hasty  blasts  upon  his  horn,  that  by  at- 
tracting attention  he  might  prevent  the  outposts 
from  firing  upon  him  ;J  and  then,  clapping  spurs  to 
his  horse,  he  dashed  at  full  speed  between  the 
advancing  ranks,  and  holding  up  in  his  right  hand  a 
copy  of  the  treaty,  shouted,  "  Peace,  Peace !" 

The   assemblage  of  the  IXth  National      1578. 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  France,    f'«'>-  2- 
which  took  place  in  the  following  February 
at  St.  Foy,  in  Perigord,  seems  to  speak  no  small 
increase  of  confidence  in  the  Huguenots  as  to  their 
personal  safety.     During  the  last  five  troubled  years 
their  internal  discipline  must  have  been  regulated 
by  stealth,  and  the  Church  in  its  corporate  capacity 
had  been   wholly  unrepresented.     Merlin,  the  late 
admiral's  chaplain,  was  elected  moderator,  and  the 
Viscount   de   Turenne  appeared  as  proxy  for  the 
King  of  Navarre.     The  necessity  of  a  provision  for 
the  education  of  youth  was  strongly  urged,  although 

•  Davila,  lib.  vi.  torn.  i.  p.  375. 

t  "  I.es  enfans-perdus  iiiarchsns  pour  commcnccr  ri-scarmouche." 
— Amirault.  p.  2.^0. 

t  "Fit  donncr  drux  coups  de  hucbet  dson  postilion,  afin  qu'on  ne 
Ursst  pae  eur  luy." — W.  ib.d. 


142  NINTH  NATIONAL  SYNOD.  [CH.  XIV. 

perhaps  scarcely  enough  caution  was  evinced  in  the 
selection  of  preceptors.  We  read  of  a  common 
rogue,  with  three  aliases  to  his  name,  who  "  hath 
temerariously  intruded  himself  into  the  ministry 
without  any  call,  forged  divers  letters,  clipped  his 
majesty's  coin,  melted  down  the  clippings  into  base 
silver  lingots,  and  vended  those  to  several  gold- 
smiths in  the  city  of  Sedan,  for  which  the  civil 
magistrates  inflicted  corporal  punishment  upon  him 
in  the  said  city,  all  of  which  he  could  not  but  ac- 
knowledge and  confess  to  be  true  before  this  as-? 
sembly."  For  these  offences  the  criminal  was 
sentenced  to  be  deposed  from  the  ministry,  as  a 
person  incapable  and  utterly  unworthy  of  it ;  to  be 
continued  on  the  roll  of  vagrants  ;  and  to  do  public 
penance  in  the  church  in  which  he  had  presumed 
to  officiate.  Nevertheless,  we  find  it  added,  to  our 
no  small  astonishment,  "  We  do  license  him  to  keep 
school  and  to  instruct  youth."  The  plea  advanced 
for  the  appointment  is  "his  deep  poverty  and  great 
and  numerous  family  of  children  ;"  the  precaution 
adopted  against  its  danger  is  an  injunction  to  the 
ministers  of  the  places  in  which  he  shall  live,  "  to 
watch  over  him  and  his  deportment  with  a  very 
strict  and  careful  eye."*  It  seems  to  us  that  either 
the  dearth  of  schoolmasters  in  those  times  must 
have  been  extreme,  or  that  the  estimate  of  the 
relative  influence  of  precept  and  example  held  an 
inverse  ratio  to  that  which  is  now  established  among 
ourselves  by  a  proverbial  expression. 

The  duty  of  frequent  catechising  was  pressed 
upon  the  ministers  in  very  sensible  terms  ;  they 
were  enjoined  to  use  "  short,  plain,  and  familiar  ques- 
tions and  answers,  acconmiodating  themselves  to 
the  weakness  and  capacity  of  their  people,  without 
enlargement  or  handling  of  commonplaces."!  In 
their  sermons,  also,  they  were  exhorted  "  not  to 

*  Chapter  viii.  Art.  5.  t  Chapter  ii.  Art.  7. 


A.  D.  1578. J  NINTH  NATIONAL  SYNOD.  143 

dwell  long  upon  a  text,  but  to  expound  and  treat  of 
as  many  in  their  ministry  as  they  can  ;  fleeing  all 
ostentation,  and  long  digressions,  and  heaping  up  of 
parallel  places  and  quotations  ;  nor  ought  they  to 
propound  divers  senses  and  expositions,  nor  to 
allege,  unless  very  rarely  and  prudently,  any  pas- 
sages of  the  Fathers  ;  nor  shall  they  cite  profane 
authors  and  stories,  that  so  the  Scriptures  may  be 
left  in  their  full  and  sovereign  authority."*  Then 
again,  with  that  strange  blending  of  the  most  weighty 
and  the  most  frivolous  legislation  which  character- 
ized all  their  former  synods,  the  divines  proceed 
to  affix  punishments  to  atrocities  which  it  may 
be  hoped  and  believed  were  not  likely  to  demand 
their  frequent  cognizance  ;  and  in  the  same  breath 
to  propound  sumptuary  laws  and  to  enunciate  canons 
of  criticism.  "  Such  as  commit  enormous  crimes, 
such  as  incests,  inurthers,  and  the  like,  shall  be 
without  any  more  ado  cut  off  from  communion 
at  the  Lord's  Table,  and  their  suspension  shall  be 
published  in  church."!  "  That  article  concerning 
the  immodest  habits  and  fashions  of  men  and  women 
shall  be  observed  with  the  greatest  care  imaginable. 
And  both  sexes  are  required  to  keep  modesty  in 
their  hair,  and  every  thing  else,  so  that  no  scandal 
may  be  given  to  our  neighbour. "J  "  Such  as  shall 
put  into  verse  or  poems  Scripture  stories  are  ad- 
monished not  to  blend  nor  mingle  poetical  fables 
with  them  ;  nor  to  ascribe  unto  God  the  names  of 
false  gods;  nor  to  add  to  nor  diminish  from  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  but  to  confine  themselves  strictly 
to  the  Scripture  terms. "^ 

One  transaction  of  this  synod  evinces  the  inordi- 
nate authority  affected  by  the  ministers  over  persons 
of  the  highest  rank  in  their  church.  It  appears  that 
the  consistory  of  La  Rochelle  had  "  dissuaded"  (a 


*  Chapter  ii.  Art.  7.  t  Chapter  iv.  Art.  24. 

\  ;  Ibid.  Art  20,    __  $  Ibid.  Art.  21. 


144  NINTH  NATIONAL  SYNOD.  [cH.  XIV. 

gentle  term)  the  Prince  of  Conde  from  communi- 
cating at  the  Lord's  Table,  because  a  prize  had  been 
taken  at  sea,  by  his  commission,  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  last  edict  of  peace.     The  prince  replied, 
that  the  vessel  had  been  captured  before  the  forty 
days  for  "  divulging  the  said  peace  had  expired ;" 
that  she  belonged  to  sworn  enemies  of  himself  and 
of  the  King  of  Navarre  ;  and  moreover  (an  answer 
which  seemed  to  preclude  any  further  observation), 
"  that  it  being  a  mere  civil  state  matter,  the  con- 
sistory had  nothing  to  do  with  it."     The  consistory, 
however,  was  not  thus  easily  to  be  silenced.     Its 
members  assured  the  prince,  that  "  for  their  parts 
they  could  not  foresee  any  thing  else  but  that  the 
Divine  vengeance  would  light  down  upon  them,  if 
they  did  not  oppose  such  unlawful  practices  ;"  that 
"  they  could  not  do  less  in  duty  and  conscience  (con- 
sidering their  office  in  the  church),  than  to  endea- 
vour by  all  good  means  to  extinguish  the  fire  of  such 
a  blazing  scandal ;"  and  that  they  therefore  humbly 
besought  the  prince  "to  take  kindly  this  their  ad- 
monition, and  for  the  future  that  he  would  be  pleased 
to  exert  his  authority  in  such  like  matters,  so  that 
the  peace  sworn  by  him  maybe  kept  and  observed." 
When  the  Prince  of  Conde  afterward  appealed  to 
the  synod  against  his   exclusion  from   the  Lord's 
Table,  he   obtained  the    following   reply :    "  This 
assembly,  having  maturely  considered  the  whole 
affair,  doth  own,  acknowledge,  and  approve  of  the 
zeal  and  good  affection  of  the  church  and  consis- 
tory of  La  Rochelle,  especially  in  opposing  itself 
against  scandalous  sins  ;  and  that  herein  they  have 
not  acted  beyond  the  line  of  their  duty.     Yet,  not- 
withstanding, this  assembly  could  have  wished  that 
the   said  consistory  had   suspended  and   deferred 
their  judgment  in  an  affair  of  so  great  importance, 
and  had  not  been  so  hasty  and  precipitate  about  it ; 
that  so  all  suspicion  of  animosities  on  either  side 
might  have  been  avoided.     And  as  for  his  excel- 


A.  D.   1578.]       EFFEMINACY  OF  HENRY  III.  146 

lency  the  prince,  this  assembly  doth  earnestly 
beseech  him  not  to  misconstrue  those  remonstrances 
made  bim  in  the  name  of  God,  which  we  judge 
were  but  just  and  needful,  and  grounded  upon  the 
Word  of  God  ;  and  therefore  we  desire  his  excel- 
lency that  he  would  be  pleased  to  remove  the  occa- 
sion of  the  said  scandal,  and  take  in  good  part  the 
admonitions  of  the  church,  and  that  he  would  be 
reconciled  to  it."  A  deputation  was  appointed  to 
acquaint  the  prince  with  this  request,  and  it  was 
finally  decreed  "  that  his  excellency  the  said  prince 
shall  be  received  into  communion  at  the  Lord's 
Table."* 

The  short  period  of  tranquillity  which  succeeded 
the  peace  of  Bergerac  is  crowded  by  the  historians  of 
the  time  with  anecdotes  of  the  follies  and  the  effemi- 
nacy of  Henry  III.  Without  forming  our  estimate  of 
the  character  of  that  most  wretched  and  degraded 
prince  from  the  manifestly  overcharged  statements  of 
contemporary  satirists,!  more  than  enough  remains 
to  us  in  the  pages  of  graver  and  undoubtedly  authentic 
writers  to  induce  as  rapid  a  dismissal  of  the  odious 
subject  as  regard  for  truth  will  permit.  The  veil 
which  shrouds  the  capreae  of  the  Louvre  need  not  be 
drawn  aside  in  order  to  exhibit  the  depravity  of  his 
tastes.  We  read  of  him  in  public  running  at  the 
ring,  dressed  like  an  Amazon;  and  at  court  festivi- 
ties affecting  a  woman's  garb,  with  his  doublet 
thrown  open,  to  expose  a  throat  and  breast  circled 
with  pearl  necklaces  and  silken  collars  ;  his  hair  dis- 
posed in  artificial  ringlets,  and  his  whole  appearance, 
in  the  untranslatable  strength  of  the  original  words, 
desesperement  brave,  /rise  el  gaudcronne.X 

Each  of  his  original  minions,  purposely  selected 
without   regard  to   birth,  in   order  to   mortify  the 

*  Chapter  vii. 

*  L'hledes  Hermaphrodite':  Les  SorceUerics  de  Henri  de  Valois; 
and  other  pieces  collected  to  illustrate  the  Journal  of  Pierre  de  I'Estoile. 

X  Journal  de  Henri  HI.  torn.  i.  p.  223. 

Vol.  IL— N 


146  THE  MIM(»NS.  [CH.  XIV. 

hereditary  pretensions  of  the  ancient  noblesse, 
perished  in  the  end  by  a  violent  death,  Quelus, 
Maugiron,  and  Livarot  in  duels,  provoked  by  their 
insolence  ;*  St.  Megrin  by  the  hands  of  bravoes,  in 
consequence  of  a  reputed  intrigue  with  the  Duchess 
of  Guise.  The  king's  weakness  displayed  itself  on 
their  loss  by  paroxysms  of  the  wildest  and  most 
extravagant  grief.f  Yet  amid  this  unmanly  softness, 
fiercer  passions  were  not  unfrequently  exhibited;  and 
more  than  once  did  the  royal  palaces  themselves  be- 
come theatres  on  which  private  and  perhaps  imagi- 
nary wrongs  were  revenged  by  foul  assassination. 
At  Poitiers,  Rene  de  Villequier,  a  nobleman  who 
shared  the  confidence  and  the  personal  friendship  of 
Henry,  poniarded  his  wife  under  the  very  roof  occu- 
pied by  the  king  at  the  moment,  and  as  was  aflfirmed 
also  at  his  master's  instigation. |  Almost  within  the 
precincts  of  the  Louvre,  the  Sieur  de  la  Guast  atoned 
with  his  blood  for  too  intimate  a  knowledge  of  the 
licentiousness  of  Margaret  of  Navarre  ;^  and  no  com- 
modity in  this  most  detestable  court  appears  to  have 
been  more  cheaply  regaraed  than  a  man's  life,  un- 
less, indeed,  it  were  a  woman's  honour. 

The  influence  of  the  minions  over  the  king  seems 
to  have  been  at  its  height  after  the  signature  of  the 
treaty  of  Bergerac ;  and  the  unwarrantable  license 
wliich  they  assumed  was  regarded  with  greater  dis- 
gust by  no  one  than  by  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  In  pro- 
portion as  his  rank  was  more  exalted  than  that  of 

*  The  first  I  wo  in  1578,  the  last  in  1591.     It!,  p.  238,  315. 

t  Duriii:!  the  ililnythree  days  through  which  (luelus  languished  under 
his  woMiids,  Henry  was  rarely  absciil  lioin  his  couch.  "II  les  baisa 
tons  deux  morts  (Quelus  et  MaiifrironV  tit  tondre  leiirs  Ifeles,  et  serrer 
leurs  tilnndes  clievcUiri'S  et  dia  d  Quelus  les  pcndans  de  ses  oreilles, 
que  lui-iri6me  aujuravant  lui  avoit  domies  et  attaches  de  sa  propre  main." 
—Id.  p  239. 

t  This  murder  was  perpetrated  by  Villequier  in  1577.  De  Thou,lxvl, 
28.     Jniir)inl  de  UeiniUl.  lom.i   p.  aj4. 

§  The  reader  may  compare  ilie  diflVrent  accounts  of  this  assassination, 
wliich  occurred  in  15T5.  civcn  hy  De  Thou,  l.\i.  10;  by  Pierre  de  I'F.s- 
toile,  loMi  ].  I).  HO;  by  Hraiilonic,  Di.Tovr.f  U,\u.  3,  tool.  vii.  p.  287 ; 
and  by  Quuvn  MurKurot  Ucrat'lf,  Ut.  li.  p.  111. 


A.  D.  157S.]   SECOND  FLIGHT  OF  d'aNJOU.      147 

others,  so  did  he  the  more  acutely  feel  the  insolence 
by  which  its  just  claims  were  disrei^arded.  His 
personal  defects  exposed  him  to  continual  raillery 
from  the  youthful  srallants  fully  accomplished  iii  all 
the  exercises  of  the  manege  and  of  the  tilt-yard  ;*  he 
was  warned  that  his  liberty,  perhaps  his  life,  was 
endangered  in  consequence  of  evil  suggestions  which 
they  had  sedulously  whispered  into  his  brother's 
ear ;  and,  still  looking  to  the  troubled  state  of  Flan- 
ders, as  affording  hope  of  station  and  power  in  that 
country  which  was  denied  him  in  France,  he  re- 
solved once  again  to  withdraw  from  court.  The 
gates  of  the  Louvre  were  sentinelled  with  jealousy 
so  vigilant  that  open  egress  was  impossible,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  escape  by  niirht,  from 
the  apartments  of  his  sister  Margaret.  '"  ' 
Her  windows  on  the  second  story  overlooked  the 
palace  fosse  ;  into  which  by  means  of  a  rope,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  her  female  attendants,  she 
lowered  the  fugitive.!  After  the  first  alarm  occa- 
sioned by  his  sudden  absence  had  subsided,  he  was 
allowed  to  remain  unregarded  at  Anglers ;  till,  not 
many  months  afterward,  the  aspect  of  the  court 
being  changed  by  the  accidents  which  had  removed 
the  minions,  he  ventured  upon  a  return. 

Under  the  pretext  of  reconducting  Margaret  to 
her  husband,  the  queen-mother  in  the  autumn  of  this 
year  commenced  a  progress  through  the  southern 
provinces.     The  winter  months  were  passed  by  her 


*  The  representations  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou'8  person  and  habits  are 
ainnosi  everywhere  disadvantageous.  Walsinghatn  (lesrribes  him,  when 
Duke  of  Aieiicon,  as  ■'  void  of  any  good  favour,  besides  the  blemish  of  the 
smallpox."  (To  Lord  Burleigh,  April  1,  1572.  Digses,  p.  3)3.)  Henry  IV. 
related  to  Sully  some  marked  anecdotes  of  the  duke's  awkwardness,  and 
summed  up  hischaracter  as  follows  :  "II  melrompera  s'd  remplit  jamais 
I'attente  qu"on  concoit  de  lui  :  il  a  si  peu  de  counme,  le  ctenr  si  double  et 
hi  malm,  le  corps  si  iniil  bSii,  si  peu  de  grace  dans  son  maiiilien,  tant 
d'iiihabiletc  A  tontes  sorlcs  d'exercices,  que  je  ne  saurois  iTie  persuader 
qu'il  fasse  jamais  rien  de  grand."  torn  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  109. 

t  A  very  mmute  and  interesting  narrative  of  litis  adventure  is  giveo 
by  Margaret  in  her  iUmoires,  liv.  ii.  p.  167, 


148  CONFERENCES  AT  NERAC.  [ciI.  XIV. 

at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  chiefly  at 
Nerac  ;  where,  amid  the  pleasures  and  jjallantries  to 
which  others  were  abandoned,  the  subtle  Catherine 
was  occupied  in  weaving  political  intrigues.  Of  the 
precise  nature  of  her  objects  it  is  not  easj^  to  spealc ; 
for  Sully,  who  of  all  others  might  be  supposed  likely 
to  have  obtained  their  clew,  candidly  admits  that  he 
was  too  young  at  the  moment  to  be  occupied  in  at- 
tending to  them.  How  ill  the  peace  was  observed  is 
sufficiently  plain  from  many  of  the  curious  anecdotes 
which  he  has  preserved.  Seldom  were  hostilities 
suspended  unless  within  a  narrow  circuit,  scarcely 
extending  to  more  than  a  league  from  the  spot  at 
which  the  court  happened  to  reside  ;  and  beyond 
that  pale  the  courtesies  of  the  banquet  and  of  the 
dance  were  exchanged  for  fierce  defiance  and  deadly 
combat.  One  evening,  during  a  fete  given  by  the 
King  of  Navarre  at  Auch,  he  received  secret  in- 
telligence that  his  town  of  La  Reolle  had  been  be- 
trayed. Its  governor,  a  zealous  Huguenot,  and  now 
advanced  in  years,  had  weakly  yielded  to  a  passion 
which  one  of  Catherine's  Circes  had  been  instructed 
to  inspire  and  to  encourage ;  and  he  had  purchased 
her  smiles,  and  had  avenged  himself  upon  his  ancient 
friends  for  the  ridicule  which  his  unseasonable  love 
had  excited,  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  loyalty.*  The 
king  whispered  to  SuUj"^  and  three  or  four  of  his 
more  trusty  servants  to  take  an  opportunity  of  with- 
drawing with  hifn  from  the  ball-room,  without  ex- 
citing suspicion.  Then,  gathering  as  many  followers 
as  could  be  collected  at  the  spur  of  the  moment,  and 
concealing  their   arms    under   hunting-dresses,  he 


*  "D'TIssac  estoit  viel,  et  encor  plus  enviclli  par  les  blesseurs  qui  lui 
percoient  Ic  visage,  el  mesmcs  qu'il  pn  nvo't  dans  la  bouclie,  pour  Ics- 

quelles  il  parloil  (litricilenirnt II  h'apperceui  qucle  Roy  de  Navarre 

et  le  VicomJe  de  Turennc  tri  voii'.lcient  passer  le  temps  ("e  iiie>pris  lui 
fut  si  dur  qu'il  ne  les  voulut  jamais  ni  voir  iii  lialeiier  depuis  qui  plus 
est,  en  quitla  Religion  et  Parti.  Voie  d'un  costt',  men  lecteur,  que 
peuvent  I'amour  et  Ic  despit."     D'Aubigii^,  Htst.   Vniv.  torn.  ii.  liv. 

»T.  c.  2. 


A.  D.  167S.]       INTRIGUES  OF  CATHERINE.  149 

reached  by  daybreak  the  gates  of  Fleurans^e,  a  town 
belonging  to  the  royal  jurisdiction,  aiul  possessed 
himself  of  it  without  resistance.  Catherine,  who 
fully  believed  that  Navarre  had  slept  at  Auch  on  the 
past  night,  was  beyond  measure  astonished  when 
informed  of  her  loss  on  the  following  morning;  but 
adroitly  concealing  her  chagrin  by  a  jest,  she  de- 
clared that  Henry  had  taken  his .  revenge  for  La 
ReoUe  ;  "  It  is  nut  for  nut,"  she  said,  "  but  mine  has 
the  better  kernel."* 

The  versatility  of  Catherine,  indeed,  accommo- 
dated itself  with  equal  readiness  both  to  the  staid  and 
solemn  habits  of  the  Calvinistic  ministers  and  to  the 
frivolities  of  the  court ;  and  she  endeavoured  to  gain 
the  confidence  of  the  Huguenot  divines,  by  imitating 
their  modes  of  speech.  For  that  purpose,  and  to 
qualify  herself  for  the  forms  of  polemical  conversa- 
tion, she  devoted  her  evenings  to  the  study  of  a 
Scriptural  vocabulary,  learning  by  heart  a  profusion 
of  phrases  which  she  termed  consiscorial,  and  plenti- 
fully applying  them  to  the  purposes  of  familiar  dis- 
course. The  buftbons  of  the  antechamber  listened 
with  an  incredulous  smile  when  they  heard  the 
queen-mother  "  approve  the  counsel  of  Gamaliel," 
and  pronounce  a  "blessing  upon  the  feet  of  those 
who  were  messengers  of  peace."  If  she  mentioned 
the  king,  it  was  as  "  the  Lord's  anointed,"  or  "  the 
image  of  the  living  God,"  and  she  had  ever  on  her 
lips  apt  citations  from  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  in 
support  of  the  powers  that  be.  In  the  bedchamber, 
at  her  coucher,  she  appealed  to  God  on  every  trifling 
occasion,  summoned  the  Almighty  to  adjudge  be- 
tween herself  and  her  attendant  ladies,  and  protested 

*  Sully,  lorn  i.  liv.  I.  p  86.  Wo  have  used  Mrs.  Charlotte  Lenox's 
translailoii  (which  snuml.i  proverbial,  allhouch  it  is  not  so  registered  by 
Ra\ )  for  the  words  imputed  to  Catherine.  The  original  is  still  more 
homely:  "  I.e  Roy  de  Navarre  a  voulu  I'aire  cliou  pour  chou.  mais  le 
mien  est  mietjx  pomrni'."  Sully  (^aniiot  He  mistaken  relative  to  the  date 
of  this  transaction,  m  which  he  had  a  personal  share;  nevertheless,  De 
fbou  assigns  iheiredchery  at  La  Reolle  (o  (he  foUowiiij^  summer. 

N2 


150  TREATY  OF  NERAC.  [CH.  XIV. 

that  every  word  she  uttered  was  true,  as  she  hoped 
for  the  favour  of  Heaven  and  its  angels.  By  the  use 
of  this  language  of  Canaan,  as  it  was  not  inappro- 
priately termed  by  the  wits  in  her  train,  Catherine 
acquired,  among  some  of  the  blinder  Huguenots,  a 
very  ill-merited  reputation  for  close  acquaintance 
with  theology.* 

1579.  The  treaty  of  Nerac,  with  which  the  con- 
Feb.  29.  ferences  between  the  queen-mother  and  the 
deputies  of  the  Reforiiied  terminated  in  the  follow- 
ing spring,  tended  but  little  to  produce  any  increase 
of  mutual  confidence.  It  was  for  the  most  part  ex- 
planatory of  certain  obscurities  in  the  peace  of  Ber- 
gerac  ;  nevertheless,  if  it  had  been  rigidly  observed, 
the  Huguenots  would  have  derived  a  few  additional 
benefits  from  its  provisions.  They  were  permitted 
to  buy  or  to  build  places  of  worship  ;  they  were  au- 
thorized to  levy  assessments  for  the  support  of  their 
ministers  ;  and  the  number  of  cautionary  towns  left 
in  their  hands  was  increased  from  nine  to  fourteen. 
Catherine,  for  the  first  tune,  must  have  been  ill  sat- 
isfied with  her  diplomacy-  She  had  failed  in  her 
hope  of  alluring  Navarre  to  Paris,  and  of  disarming 
the  suspicions  of  his  followers  ;  she  must  have  per- 
ceived that  a  single  spark  would  at  any  moment  re- 
kindle the  flames  of  war,  and  that  the  Huguenots 
were  fully  prepared  for  its  outbreak. 
Aug.  a.  The  Xth  National  Synod  assembled  at  Fi- 
Aug.  8.  geac  in  Quercy  during  the  autumn.  Its  sit- 
tings were  brief,  and  the  solemnity  with  which  the 
acts  are  recorded  occasions  scarcely  less  surprise 
than  their  nature.  The  divines  were  chiefly  em- 
ployed in  regulating  baptisnidl  names  ;t  in  forbidding 
the  "  transformation"  of  either  the  Canonical  or 
Apocryphal  Books  of  the  Holy  Bible  "  into  tragedies 
or  comedies  ;"|:  and  in  efl'ectually  restraining  an  evil 

*  D'Aubigii^,  Hi-~t.  Univ.  torn.  ii.  liv.  iv.  ch.  iii.  p.  337. 

♦  Clittp.  ji.  Art.  4.  }  Chap.  iu.  ArU  18, 


A.  D.  1579.]   TENTH  NATIONAL  SYNOD.         151 

propensity  to  dancing,  wliich,  from  the  interminable 
warfare  waged  against  it,  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
the  sins  by  which  the  Huguenot  congregations  were 
most  grievously  beset.  "  Ministers  and  consisto- 
ries," says  the  xxvith  Article,  "  are  hereby  admon- 
ished to  see  that  canon  concerning  dances  to  be 
most  strictly  observed,  which  is  the  xxth  under  the 
title  of  Parlicular  Orders,  forbidding  expressly  all 
dances ;  and  also  they  shall  prudently  distinguish 
between  such  as  be  contumacious  rebels  against  this 
holy  advice,  and  those  who  by  their  discontinuance 
of  dancing  do  manifest  their  having  profited  by  it."* 
We  find  also  a  very  pointed  denouncement  of  a  cus- 
tom which  it  would  be  difilcult  to  consider  as  other- 
wise than  wholly  indifl'erent.  "  Churches  that  in  sing- 
ing Psalms  do  first  cause  each  verse  to  be  read  shall 
be  advised  to  forbear  that  childisli  custom,  and  such 
as  have  used  themselves  unto  it  shall  be  censured. "f 
The  war  which  the  Huguenots  conmienced  before 
the  year  had  closed  was  undertaken  unjustly  and 
injudiciously, t  and  owed  its  origin  as  much  to  an  un- 
worthy female  intrigue  as  to  the  existing  difference 
in  religion.  Tlie  king,  who  hated  his  sister  Mar- 
garet, on  account  of  her  avowed  preference  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  spitefully  sought  to  disturb  her  repose 
by  awakening  her  husband's  jealousy.  Her  gallan- 
tries were  notorious,  but  Henry  of  Navarre,  either 
careless  of  his  matrimonial  honour,  or  willing  to  pur- 
chase amnesty  for  his  own  licentiousness  by  condo- 
nation to  his  wife,  placed  the  king's  letters,  which 
accused  her  of  infidelity  with  the  Viscount  de 
Turenne,  in  the  possession  of  the  very  parties  whom 
they  inculpated.  Margaret  was  roused  to  fury  ;  out- 
raged both  as  a  queen  and  as  a  woman,  she  felt  her 
injury  with  double  keenness,  since  it  was  inflicted  by 
a  brother's  hand,  which  ought  to  have  been  raised 

*  rhap.  iii.  Art.  26.  t  Ibid.  29. 

t  "  Peui-eBUre  avec  pcu  de  justice  el  certes  fori  mal-a-propos."— Pcr<v 
fixe,  p.  57. 


152  CAUSES  OF  RENEWED  WAR.  [CH.  XIV. 

lo  shield,  and  not  to  strike.*  Burning  for  revenge, 
and  well  schooled  in  the  practice  of  her  mother's 
artifices,  she  employed  all  the  energies  of  an  active 
and  subtle  intellect  to  arouse  the  Huguenots  to  war. 
Over  many  of  them  she  possessed  and  exercised 
great  personal  influence  ;  and,  utterly  indifferent  as 
to  means,  provided  the  object  at  which  she  directed 
them  might  be  attained,  she  fostered  the  passion  of 
her  husband  for  one  of  her  own  attendants,  whom 
she  had  tutored  to  inculcate  her  wishes.f  The 
ostensible  political  motive  for  resistance  which  she 
urged  was  the  weakness  to  which  the  Huguenots 
would  be  reduced  if  they  consented  to  fulfil  the  terms 
of  the  peace  of  Bergerac,  by  surrendering  the  cau- 
tionary towns.  The  time  stipulated  for  their  aban- 
donment was  fast  approaching,  and  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  persuade  Henry  that  his  safety  depended  upon 
their  retention,  and  that  they  could  be  retained  only 
by  an  appeal  to  arms.  Such  was  the  origin  of  this 
war  ;  the  "  Guerre  des  Ainoreux"  as  it  is  termed  in 
French  history.  "  He  who  would  narrate  it,"  says 
Du  Plessis,  "  will  find  no  small  difficulty  in  treating 
it  with  dignity.  He  must  discover  some  more  gen- 
erous motive  as  its  source  than  the  passion  of  an 
angry  woman. "| 

*  "  Le  Reyne  de  Navarre  qui  avoit  !e  cceur  grand,  comtne  Reyne,  I't 
vindicatif  conime  Feinme  :  et  a  qui  cela  estoit  d'auiant  ))liis  strisible  qii'il 
venoit  d'un  frere,  qui  devoit  estre  protecteur  de  son  lionneur  " — Ami- 
rault,254. 

t  "Mademoiselle  Fosseuse — jeuiie  fille  de  quatorze  ans — cetle  lille 
craintive  pour  son  age,  au  oommencemeiit  ne  pouvoit  bien  prali(iuer 
les  locons  de  sa  maitresse.  Kile  la  faisoit  aider  par  une  fille-riechanilire, 
nomnn  e  Xainte  avec  laquelle  le  Roy  de  Navarre  familiarisoit."— L)'Au- 
bigne,  H'.v«.  I'niv.  loin.  ii.  liv.  iv.  c.  5. 

J  Cited  by  Aniiuetil  in  L'Esjnit  dc  In  L'gve,  Tom.  Ii. p.  220.  Dn  Plessis 
has  a  very  similnr  passage  in  a  Idler  lo  M.  l.anfjiiei.  in  which  he  slates 
the  diffirullies  which  must  be  eiUDnniertd  in  wniing  the  History  or  Re- 
ligion in  his  own  limes.  "  Suuvenl  il  liiiildra  allcguer  pour  cause  d'uiig 
cflecl  ce  qui  ne  I'aura  jvis  esie,  une  cause  gmereuse  au  lieu  de  Tamoiir 
d'une  remine  et  d'une  querellc  il(^  boril(':iu  ;  car  ainsi  cjuc  iiostrc  t'oiiri  a 
cste  ces  dcrnieres  annies  gouvcriiee,  vous  n'lgnores  pas  que  les  piques 
smnt  venues  pour  la  plus  pari  de  \a."—Corres}jonilence,  toni.  ii.  p.  81, 
Lcit.  vii. 


A.  D.   1579.]       LA  NOUE  ADVISES  PEACE.  153 

The  rising  of  the  Huguenots  was  far,  however, 
from  being  general  ;  and  the  Rochellois,  especially, 
hitherto  never  backward  in  the  field,  forbore  from 
declaring  thenjselves  till  they  had  consulted  La 
Noue.  That  wise  and  upright  chief,  at  that  time 
engaged  in  the  Netherlands,  answered  their  inqui- 
ries without  respect  of  persons.  He  avowed  his 
conviction  that  the  war  was  unjust,  and  advised  them 
by  no  means  to  participate  in  it.  He  deprecated  the 
substitution  of  private  interests  in  lieu  of  a  common 
cause.  He  maintained  that  if  the  last  edict  had  not 
been  executed  by  the  court  in  every  particular,  it  had 
been  so  for  the  most  part ;  and  that  the  violations 
were  far  too  unimportant  to  demand  redress  by  arms. 
That  not  to  surrender  the  cautionary  towns  would 
be  to  commit  a  flagrant  breach  of  good  faith,  and 
would  afford  the  Romanists  a  powerful  excuse  for 
former  similar  treacheries  of  which  the  Huguenots 
had  loudly  complained.  That  whatever  inconve- 
nience might  be  attendant  on  that  surrender  should 
have  been  foreseen  and  guarded  against  before  the 
promise  had  been  pledged ;  having  been  once  pledged, 
it  must  be  observed,  and  the  result  must  be  com- 
mitted to  Providence.  Lastly,  that  civil  war  was  so 
great  an  evil,  and  brought  with  it  such  an  accumu- 
lation of  miser3s  that  it  should  always  be  avoided 
unless  its  cause  were  absolutely  just;  and  that  no 
cause  for  it  conld4»d  just,  unless  founded  on  an  in- 
evitable necessity.* 

These  sound  and  honest  arguments  sufficed  to  con- 
firm the  Rochellois  in  a  maintenance  of  neutrality, 
and  their  example  was  followed  by  the  Cham- 
pagnois,  the  Burgundians,  and  the  Normans.  The 
Reformed,  thus  divided,  were  everywhere  unfortu- 
nate in  military  operations,  and  never  would  their 
existence  have  been  more  endangered  than  during 
this  war,  if  it  had  been  pushed  with  vigour.     But 

*  Amirault,  p.  25& 


154  DV  PLESSIS'  EXPEDITION  OF         [cH.   XV. 

the  constitutional  sliig:gishness  of  the  king,  and  the 
ardour  with  which  the  Duke  of  Anjou  sought  to 
direct  the  whole  resources  of  France  to  secure  for 
himself  the  proffered  sovereignty  of  the  Nether- 
lands,  contributed   to   their  deliverance. 

Nov  26 

■  Anjou  received  permission  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  at  Fleix  in  Perigord,  which  confirmed  all  the 
essential  provisions  before  stipulated  at  Nerac,  and 
in  its  few  slight  differences  was  even  more  bene- 
ficial to  the  Huguenots. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Troubled  State  of  France  during  the  Peace— Du  Plessis-Mornay's 
Correspondence — His  Slietcli  of  the  Huguenot  Resources — His  Pro- 
ject for  a  general  Union  of  the  Refonned— Its  Failure— His  Letter 
to  the  Cardinal  of  Venddme— His  bold  Declarations  to  Henry  III. 
— Xlth  and  Xllih  National  Synods— Death  of  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou -The  King  of  Navarre  Presumpiive  Heir  to  the  Crown— The 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  opposed  to  him  by  the  Guises — indecision 
of  Henry  III.— Manifesto  of  the  League  from  Peronne— The  King  of 
Navarre  challenges  the  Duke  of  Guise— Violent  Edict  of  Nemours — 
Sixtiis  v.  disapproves  the  League,  but  exconimunicaies  the  Bour- 
bons— Their  Reclamation— War  of  the  three  Henries — The  Hugue- 
nots negotiate  successfully  with  England  and  with  Germany— Con- 
ference at  Montbeliiard — Imbecility  of  Henry  III. — Conferences  at  St. 
Bris— Disposition  of  the  Royal  Forces— The  Duke  of  .loyeuse  defeated 
and  killed  in  the  Battle  of  Coutras — Bravery  and  Moderation  of  the 
King  of  Navarre. 

France  had  been  too  long  agitated  by  civil  commo- 
tions to  permit  immediate  subsidence  into  tranquil- 
lity; and  during  the  four  years  which  ensued,  the 
peace  was  perhaps  almost  daily  violated  on  both 
sides.  Much  of  the  internal  condition  of  the 
Huguenots  at  that  period  is  to  be  learned  from 
the  numerous  state  papers  which  have  descended 
to  us ;  and  the  correspondence  of  Du  Plessis-Mor- 
ray,  especially,  who  became  the  King  of  Navarre's 
chief  diplomatist,  offers  inexhaustible  portraitures 


A.  D.    1583  ]       THE   IIUGUKNOT  RESOURCES.  155 

of  motives,  measures,  and  manners.  The  resources 
of  the  Huguenots  are  displayed  much  at  large  in  a 
memorial  addressed  to  the  English  minister,  Wal- 
singham,  at  a  time  in  which  some  hope  was  enter- 
tained of  forming  a  general  union  of  the  Protestant 
states  of  Europe.  The  patrimonial  revenues  of 
Navarre,  notwithstanding  the  improvidence  of  for- 
mer kings  and  the  ruinous  expenditure  of  the  civil 
wars,  are  estimated  at  300,000  crowns  annually  ;  and 
the  dominions  over  which  Henry  exercised  the  full 
rights  of  sovereignty  are  said  to  be  able  to  furnish 
300  gentlemen  handsomely  accompanied,  and  6000 
well-armed  arquebusiers.  They  possessed  also  an 
arsenal  of  spiritual  weapons  in  the  university  of 
Orthes,  which  is  described  as  richly  stocked  with 
learned  men,  and  always  maintaining  fifty  students, 
who,  during  a  ten  years'  course  of  divinity,  prepared 
themselves  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel.  Among 
the  fiefs  for  which  Henry  paid  vassalage  to  the 
crown  of  France,  the  county  of  Foix  could  provide 
at  least  6000  more  arquebusiers.  The  whole  dis- 
trict from  the  Spanish  frontier  to  Dordogne,  a  six 
days'  journey,  abounding  in  fertile  estates  and  rich 
cities,  and  thickly  peopled  by  a  chivalrous  nobility, 
is  described  as  animated  by  a  spirit  of  profound  de- 
votion to  the  Reformed  cause ;  and  the  English,  it 
is  added,  who  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
their  own  country  and  of  France  during  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  more  particularly  tliose  who  are  versed 
in  the  pages  of  Froissart,  need  not  be  reminded  how 
great  at  that  time  was  the  power  of  a  Count  de 
Foix,  of  a  Count  d'Armagnac,  and  of  a  Duke  d'Al- 
bert ;  and  will  therefore  sufliciently  understand  how 
far  more  commanding  must  be  the  influence  of  a 
prince  who  unites  the  scattered  possessions  of  those 
nobles,  improved  in  wealth  and  cultivation,  under 
his  single  rule. 

Omitting  less  noted  spots,  the  whole  of  Langue- 
doc,  the  most  opulent  and  important  province  of 


156  PROJECT     OF    A  [CH.  XV. 

France,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  places, 
was  in  the  Huguenot  interest ;  and  after  garrisoning 
the  chief  towns,  it  could  send  into  the  field  6000 
arquebusiers.  Jn  Provence,  the  Huguenot  churches 
had  greatly  increased  since  the  peace  :  extending 
themselves  even  at  Ailes  and  Aix,  which  were  archi- 
episcopal  cities,  and  seats  also  of  parliaments ;  and 
gaining  so  firm  an  establishment  at  Marseilles,  that 
more  than  200  respectable  Huguenot  families  were 
counted  in  that  port,  which  four  years  previously  did 
not  entertain  one  soul  professing  the  Reformed 
faith.  Dauphine  had  suflfered  greatly  in  the  last 
war,  nevertheless,  it  had  so  far  recovered  that  its 
contingent  would  give  4000  arquebusiers,  and  a  gal- 
lant band  of  400  veteran  Huguenot  gentlemen,  who 
had  been  mounted  and  in  the  field  from  the  very 
commencement  of  the  religious  struggles.  Taking 
the  whole  length  of  France  from  Savoy  to  the 
Pyrenees,  at  every  three  leagues'  distance  a  travel- 
ler might  lodge  and  be  entertained  in  some  town 
which  either  belonged  to  the  patrimony  or  was  un- 
der the  protection  of  the  King  of  Navarre.  From 
the  district  lying  between  the  Garonne  and  tlie  Dor- 
dogne,  4000  arquebusiers  might  at  any  time  be 
gathered  in  four  days  ;  not  fewer  than  6000  more, 
together  with  500  gentlemen,  would  flock  to  the 
banners  of  the  Prince  of  Conde  from  Angouleme, 
Saintonge,  Poictou,  and  Aunix.  In  the  northern 
provinces,  the  Huguenots  had  been  more  dispersed 
and  less  openly  oi'ganized  since  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew. Nevertheless,  many  faithful  partisans  were 
to  be  found  there,  secretly  banded  together ;  and 
there  was  scarcely  a  corner,  however  remote,  in 
which  some  one  gentleman  did  not  reside,  at  whose 
summons  the  Huguenots  of  all  classes  would  gather 
in  case  of  necessity.  Such,  it  is  said  in  conclusion, 
were  the  means  of  the  King  of  Navarre  and  of  the 
Reformed  churches  of  France,  united  for  the  same 
object,  namely,  self-preservation ;   and  forming  a 


A.  D.  1583.]  HUGUENOT  COUNTER-LEAGUE.     157 

body  so  firm  and  so  compact,  that  a  power  far 
greater  than  that  of  the  royalists  could  not  effect 
its  ruin  without  at  the  same  time  ruining  itself 
also.* 

In  the  instructions  framed  by  Du  Plessis-Mornay 
for  De  Segur,t  the  envoy  who  was  employed  to  nego- 
tiate this  projected  Protestant  counter-league,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  as  the  most  powerful  and  the  greatest  of 
those  sovereigns  who  had  embraced  the  truth,  was 
invited  to  become  its  chief.  It  was  avowedly  to  be 
formed  as  a  guarantee  of  peace,  rather  than  as  a 
provocative  to  war.  Union,  indeed,  it  was  said, 
was  the  only  means  by  which  the  evident  designs 
of  the  pope  and  his  adherents  could  he  frustrated ; 
and  the  Protestants,  if  they  would  save  themselves 
from  extermination,  must  bear  in  mind  that  dum 
simruli  pugnamns,  vinchnur.  It  was  needless  to  warn 
England  of  the  irreconcilable  hatred  which  the 
King  of  Spain  cherished  against  the  Reformed. 
That  prince  had  been  conceived,  born,  and  bred  in 
the  Inquisition, "  the  very  Gehenna  of  the  papacy  ;"| 
and  he  had  hazarded  hi-s  choicest  dominions  for  the 
glory  of  being  called  the  son  of  the  pope  and  the 
protector  of  the  Apostolic  (church.  A  marriage 
between  Henry's  sister,  the  Princess  Catherine  of 
Navarre,  and  the  King  of  Scots,  was  suggested,  to 
consolidate  the  projected  alliance  ;  and,  in  order  to 
prevent  any  obstacle  which  might  impede  the  ne- 
gotiations, arising  out  of  the  difference  of  opinion 

*  Eslat  (III  Roy  de  Navarre  et  de  son  Parti  en  fVance,  envoyi  aud'ct 
S'eur  de  Walsiii'^ham  en  Mai.  I5S3   loni  ii.  xlix.  p.  241-257. 

t  De  Thou  describes  Hi'xuT  a<i  r  priBripiid  .1(jiiilnHi(e  nohl'tnfe  horn- 
inem,  Catvm  sticce  Cmifesaioni  addiclnin,  et  emxi  propensd  ers:a  .Va- 

varrurn  voluntate  pratdilum probo  ct  vivaci  ncc  mcrud  to   hii^mio, 

sed  crtdtdo.  His  weak  point  appears  to  have  been  that  ordinary  slum- 
bling-bloek  of  wnnn  faiiries.  the  afiplicalion  of  prophecy  to  the  imnie- 
iJiate  overthrow  of  papal  Home.  Of  this  folly  De  TJiou  proceeds  to  give 
someaci-ount,  lxxix.7. 

1  '•!!  est  concpu,  ni',  et  eslev  •  en  I'Inqiiisition,  qui  est  laCehennede  la 
Papauie."  Instruciion  pour  traicter  avec  la  Royne  d'AnijIelem-  el  aul- 
tres  princes  pstraiigers  Protestans,  bitilli'e  par  le  Itoy  de  Navarre  au  Sieur 
de  Segur,  y  allant  de  sa  part,  en  JuUlet  1583.  torn.  ii.  Ui.  p.  272-294. 

Vox,.  II.— O 


158  PROJECT     OF     A  [CH.  XV. 

entertained  by  the  severaVbranches  of  the  Reformed 
Church  relative  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  was  pro- 
posed either  to  refer  those  disputes  (according  to 
the  example  of  the  ancient  Church)  to  a  general 
synod  ;  or,  what  perhaps  afforded  a  surer  hope 
of  mutual  amity,  to  forbid  all  controversy  concern- 
ing them,  either  in  speech  or  in  writing. 

Similar  offers,  with  the  necessary  variations, 
were  made  to  the  Reformed  in  the  Netherlands,  to 
the  King  of  Denmark,  and  to  the  Protestant  states 
of  the  empire  ;  and  with  the  last-named,  who  were 
more  subtly  skilled  in  divinity  than  the  others,  a 
fuller  discussion  was  opened  upon  the  causes  of  dis- 
union. There  could  be  no  doubt,  it  was  said,  that 
the  great  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  free  remission 
of  sins  by  the  death  of  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  the 
true  and  only  Mediator,  to  all  who  believe  in  Him, 
was  embraced  alike  by  every  denomination  of  the 
Reformed  ;  that  all  combated  by  like  arguments  the 
abuses  of  Rome;  and  that  even  on  the  single  disputed 
point,  the  Lord's  Supper,  all  agreed  as  to  the  sub- 
stance of  the  sacrament,  which  was  the  body  of 
Christ.  The  sole  difference  was  as  to  the  manner 
of  its  presence — de  rnodo  prasentice  :  and  lamentable 
indeed  was  it  that  in  qucerendo  modo,  nullum  plane 
modum adhibeamus,  omnem  excedamus.  Herein,  a  les- 
son of  wisdom,  it  was  said,  might  be  drawn  from 
the  Romanists  themselves,  who  before  the  days  of 
Luther  had  countless  mortal  quarrels  on  this  very 
point ;  and  were  split  into  ten  or  twelve  different 
sects  by  the  schoolmen,  as  Peter  Lombard,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Duns  Scotus,  Durand,  Gabriel  Biel,  Bona- 
ventura,  and  Picus  Mirandula;  all  of  whom  were 
ready  to  cut  one  another's  throats.  Nevertheless,  in 
order  that  they  might  have  more  repose  and  leisure 
for  persecution  of  the  Reformed  faith,*  they  had 
of  late  contrived  to  lull  their  disputations  to  sleep ; 

*  Pout  nous  persecuter  avec  plus  de  fepos  et  de  loisir. — Ibid.  p.  290. 


A.   D.   1583.]    HUGUENOT  COUNTER-LEAGUE.  159 

an  example  by  which  the  Reformed,  alas !  had  failed 
to  profit,  although  their  course  was  far  easier,  and 
iheir  object  was  much  more  important ;  being  not 
less  than  their  deliverance  from  evident  ruin. 

The  mission  of  Segur  fail^^d  in  its  object.  Eliza- 
beth, indeed,  was  sufficiently  alive  to  the  evil  de- 
signs of  Spain  ;  and  after  much'coquetry,  and  a  long 
struggle  between  feminine  weakness  and  queenly 
duty, she  had  finally  rejected  the  ten  years'  suit  which 
Anjou  had  at  length  briskly  urged  in  person.*  Still, 
however,  she  was  unprepared  to  link  herself  with 
the  Reformed  of  France  by  any  declared  positive 
alliance.  In  Germany,  also,  little  encouragement 
was  given  by  the  Lutheran  divines  ;t  and  the  Ro- 
manists in  that  country  manifested  a  fierce  and  not 
an  unwarrantable  jealousy  of  the  Kuig  of  Navarre's 
designs.!  The  emperor  at  one  time  issued  orders 
for  the  arrest  of  the  ambassadors  ;  and  the  confla- 
gration which  the  Calvinists  were  endeavouring  to 
kindle,  the  incendium  Calrinisticum,  as  it  was 
termed,  was  denounced  in  a  pamphlet  replete  with 
slanderous  and  menacing  crimination,  which  issued 
from  the  press  at  Ingoldstadt.^ 

Two  documents,  relating  to  the  same  year  in 
which  this  negotiation  commenced,  bear  testimony 

*  Among  the  Burleigh  MSS.  is  preserved  an  astrological  calculation 
respecting  the  queen's  marriage,  vvrilten  in  Secretary  fecil's  own  hand. 
Ir  determines  that  she  is  to  be  married  about  the  close  of  her  31sl  year  : 
her  husband  is  to  be  a  bachelor  and  a  foreigner,  whom  she  will  survive 
The  marriage  is  to  be  happy,  and  productive  of  one  son  of  great  promise, 
and  one  daughter.  The  original  document,  in  Latin,  is  prmled  by 
Strype. — EUzabelh.  vol.  ii.     Appendij:  to  Book  i.  No.  4. 

t  Dfc  Thou  speaks  of  some  third  and  more  secret  instructions  to  Segur, 
by  which  he  was  authorized  to  make  very  ample  concessions  on  the  dis- 
puted point  ol  Consubstantration,  and  to  admit  that  since  the  Aposiolic 
times,  no  single  person  had  so  much  benetiled  the  church  of  God  as 
Martin  Luther,  whether  we  regaril  his  life  or  his  writings.     Ixxix.  7. 

t  Du  Plessis  was  obliged  to  frame  an  apology  to  Henry  IIL  for  this 
mission  of  Segur.  "  Instruction  de  ce  que  le  Sieur  de  Cliassincourt  dira 
au  Roy  sur  le  voyage  du  Sieur  de  Segur,  pour  response  au  dernier  article 
ties  Lettrea  de  sa  Majest6  en  datte  du  Novembre,  1583."  Tom.  ii.  l.x.wii. 
p.  398. 

^  De  Thou,  Ixxjx.  T. 


160         DU  PLESSls'  LETTKR    TO   VLNDOMF.      [cH.  XV. 

the  most  ample  to  the  piety,  the  courage,  and  the 
sincerity  of  Du  Plessis-Mornay.  He  was  employed 
by  his  master  to  answer  a  letter  in  which  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Rouen,  afterward  Cardinal  of  Vendome,* 
had  strongly  urged  the  necessity  of  conversion  ;  and 
it  may  be  thought  that  the  following  memorable 
words  to  which  Henry  then  affixed  his  signature, 
must  have  crossed  his  remembrance  in  after 
years,  not  without  awaking  some  strong  com- 
punction. "  As  to  what  you  have  pressed  upon  my 
attention  relative  to  a  change  of  religion,  and  the 
inconveniences  which  may  result  from  the  adoption 
of  an  opposite  course,  I  think,  my  cousin,  that  all 
those  among  either  the  nobility  or  the  people  at  large, 
whose  good  opinion  is  worth  having,  and  for  whose 
approval  I  am  likely  to  care,  will  love  me  better  for 
showing  attachment  to  some  religion,  than  if  I  pro- 
fessed none  at  all ;  and  surely  they  would  have  good 
occasion  to  believe  that  I  am  wholly  devoid  of  re- 
ligion, if  they  were  to  see  me  changing  from  one 
profession  to  another,  solely  from  woildly  motives, 
the  only  motives  which  you  have  proposed.  Tell 
the  persons  who  lay  these  suggestions  before 
you,  that  religion  (if  they  have  ever  known  what 
it  really  is)  is  not  to  be  changed  as  a  man 
changes  his  shirt.  It  is  graven  on  the  heart;  and, 
God  be  thanked !  so  deeply  graven  on  mme  that 
it  is  as  little  in  my  power  to  lay  it  aside,  as  it  was 
to  adopt  it,  since  both  processes  depend  upon  the 
grace  of  God.  You  whisper  that  accidents  may  hap- 
pen to  the  king  and  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  I  never 
allow  my  imagination  to  wander  so  far  forward,  on 
matters  which  I  can  neither  foresee  nor  control ; 
nor  will  I  ever  speculate  on  my  own  possible  ag- 
grandizement by  the  death  of  those  to  whom  I  owe 
both  life  and  service.     But  if  God  has  so  ordained 


*  Charles,  nephew  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  after  his  uncIe'R  deatb 
known  as  le  jeune  Cdrdin-al  de  Bourbon. 


A.  D.  1583.]     HIS  AUDIENCE   WITH  HENRY  III.        161 

it  (which  1  pray  He  may  not  have  done),  His  Provi- 
dence, whenever  it  opens  the  gate,  will  also  smooth 
the  path ;  for  it  is  by  Him  that  kings  reign,  and  in 
His  hand  are  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Trust  me, 
my  cousin,  the  whole  tenor  of  life  will  instruct  you 
to  cast  all  your  cares  on  the  guidance  of  God,  who 
punishes  no  sin  with  greater  severity  than  any 
abuse  of  the  name  of  religion."* 

The  language  held  by  Du  Plessis  to  Henry  HI. 
himself,  in  an  audience  which  he  was  instructed  to 
demand  in  consequence  of  a  bitter  insult  offered  to 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  evinced  an  equally  firm, 
devout,  and  upright  spirit  with  that  manifested  in 
the  above  letter.  It  is  foreign  to  our  pur- 
pose  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  inci-  August, 
dent,  and  it  may  be  enough  to  state  in  brief, 
that  after  the  queen  had  received  an  order  to  with- 
draw from  court,  the  Utter  in  which  she  was  jour- 
neying was  rudely  stopped,  and  searched  by  the 
royal  command ;  that  she  herself  was  compelled  to 
unmask ;  that  certain  persons  in  her  suite  were 
carried  away  as  prisoners,!  and  rigorously  exam- 
ined with  the  hope  of  procuring  evidence  against 
their  mistress.  In  the  explanation  which  Du  Ples- 
sis was  instructed  to  demand,  his  own  unyielding 
manliness  contrasted  strongly  with  the  shuffling 
evasion  of  the  king.  Henry,  in  the  close,  expressed 
his  ardent  desire  for  the  maintenance  of  peace ;  he 
spoke  of  the  treaty  of  1576  as  one  which  he  had 
disapproved,  adding  that  he  had  never  concealed 
how  ill  it  had  satisfied  him;  that  he  had  once 
thought  to  compel  all  his  subjects  to  unity  in  reli- 
gion by  force  of  arms,  but  that  God  had  taught  him, 

*  Tom.  ii.  xlv.  p.  230.     Dated  March  6,  1583. 

t  The  pretext  advanced  Tor  this  outrage,  in  (lie  king's  letter  to  Henry, 
was  "  de  les  chasser  d'aupres  rie  la  Royiie  de  Navarre  comme  uiie  ver- 
mine  tres  pernicieuse,  inditrne  d'approcher  d'ung  si  grand  lieu."  Busbe- 
qiiiuH  rerounls  a  srene  between  the  king  and  his  .sister,  before  she  re- 
ceived orders  to  quit  the  court,  in  which  the  former  advances  accusations 
ttie  most  unmeasured  against  her.     Ep.  xxiii.  p.  517. 

02 


162  DU    PLESSIS    AND    HENRY    III.  [cH.  XV. 

by  experience,  how  unfitting  were  such  means  for 
such  a  purpose.  For  himself,  he  was  firmly  at- 
tached to  his  own  faith,  and  would  rather  die  than 
swerve  from  it  but  a  single  hair's  breadth;  that  he 
would  cheerfully  give  his  right  arm  to  establish 
uniformity  in  his  kingdom  ;  but  that  such  a  con- 
summation must  await  God's  pleasure  ;  meanwhile, 
he  was  resolved  that  those  who  differed  from  him 
should  live  peaceably  under  the  benefit  of  his  edicts, 
provided  that  violence  were  not  commenced  on 
either  side. 

Du  Plessis  replied  by  expressing  a  hope  that  God 
would  keep  his  majesty  in  this  good  resolution  of 
leaving  conscience  unmolested ;  that  there  was 
little  fear  that  war  would  ever  be  voluntarily  com- 
menced by  those  upon  whom,  even  if  successful,  it 
could  not  but  entail  an  overwhelming  burden  of 
calamity.  "  To  speak  for  myself,  sire,"  was  his 
animated  declaration,  "  1  will  not  dissemble,  that 
for  more  than  a  dozen  years  past,  I  have  made 
every  effort  in  my  power  to  become  a  Catholic,  and 
never  yet  have  been  able  to  succeed.  I  have  often 
considered  with  myself,  that  after  the  favour  of 
one's  God,  there  is  nothing  in  this  life  so  much  to 
be  coveted  as  that  of  one's  sovereign.  1  have 
enough  worldliness  about  me  to  desire  wealth  and 
honour,  and  quite  wit  enough  to  perceive  that  the 
religion  which  I  profess  is  not  the  path  which  leads 
to  their  attainment.  I  am  not  ignorant  that  your 
majesty  would  esteem  my  services,  such  as  they 
are,  far  more  agreeablfe  if  without  the  presumption 
of  thinking,  that  I  might  have  some  little  power  of 
profiting  by  them.  On  that  account,  I  have  read 
every  book  which  I  could  procure,  and  I  have  con- 
ferred with  every  learned  man  who  fell  in  my  way  ; 
and  in  all  cases  the  JJcs/i  has  strongly  inclined  itself 
towards  their  arguments  ;  but,  sire,  1  must  acknow- 
ledge to  your  majesty  tiiat  tlie  spirit  has  prevailed, 
notwithstanding  it  perceived  tiiat  the  rewards  of  its 


A.  D.  1581.]    ELEVENTH    NATIONAL    SYNOD.  163 

triumph  would  be  no  other  than  losses,  dangers, 
and  disgrace.  The  king  remarked  that  he  must 
have  brought  prejudice  to  the  discussion :  "  I  did 
so,  sire,"  answered  Du  Plessis,  "  but  it  was  a  preju- 
dice which  combated  against  my  religion  ;  a  desire 
of  advancement,  which  was  ever  more  ardent  in 
proportion  to  my  youth.  Nevertheless,  my  lively 
conviction  of  truth  has  won  the  victory  in  the 
end."* 

To  an  intellect  like  that  of  Du  Plessis,  matured 
by  long  reflection  and  impregnated  with  a  profound 
knowledge  of  all  the  controverted  points  of  his  faith, 
not  only  ever  ready,  but  ever  fully  competent  to 
give  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  was  within  him,  how 
vexatious  must  have  appeared  the  petty  bickerings, 
the  inconsequential  discussions,  and  the  officious 
legislation  of  the  National  Synods  at  which  he  was 
sometimes  compelled  to  assist !  The  Xlth  jggj 
of  those  assemblies  held  at  La  Rochelle,  June  and 
in  June  and  July,  1581,  prohibited  a  cus-  •'"'>'• 
tom  from  which,  in  remote  districts,  considerable 
benefit  might  be  derived,  the  union  of  the  practice 
of  physic  with  the  spiritual  functions.!  It  admon- 
ished all  persons,  under  pain  of  being  severely 
censured  if  they  contemptuously  neglected  the  or- 
dinance, "  to  bring  with  them  Psalm-books  into  the 
churches.""!  It  forbade  ministers  and  all  other  of 
the  faithful  from  printing  or  publishing  any  of  their 
writings  or  private  works,  without  having  first 
obtained  the  express  leave  and  approbation  of  their 
respective  colloquies. i^  It  lamented  the  "  dancings 
and  other  dissolutions  which  do  sprout  and  increase 
everywhere  ;"||  and  it  directed  itself  to  the  regula- 
tion of  dress  in  language  which  our  own  Stubbes, 
who  was  labouring  to  a  similar  purpose  about  the 

*  Negociation  de  M.  Du  Plessis,  txrs  le  Roy  Henry  IH.  tom.  ii.  Ixrii. 
p.  364.  375. 
t  Chapter  ii.  Art.  5.  1  Chapter  iii.  Art  40. 

i  Ibid.  Art.  49.  ||  Ibtd.  Art.  33. 


164  TWELFTH    NATIONAL    SYNOD,  [cH.  XV. 

same  time,  must  have  very  cordially  approved.* 
"  This  synod  declareth,  that  such  habits  are  not  to 
be  allowed  in  common  wearing  which  carry  with 
them  evident  markes  of  lasciviousness,  dissolute- 
ness, and  excessive  new-fangled  fashion,  such  as 
painting,  slashing,  cutting  in  pieces,  trimming  with 
locks  and  tassels,  or  any  other  that  may  discover 
any  nakedness,  or  unkerchiefed  bosoms,  or  fardin- 
gales,  or  the  like  sort  of  garments  with  which  both 
men  and  women  do  wickedly  clothe  and  adorn 
themselves ;  and  Consistories  shall  do  their  utmost 
to  prevent  such  dissoluteness  by  their  censure ; 
and,  in  case  the  delinquents  are  contumacious  and 
rebellious,  they  shall  proceed  against  them,  even  to 
excommunication,  "t 

At  the  Xllth  National  Synod,  held  at 
May!  Vitre  in  May,  1583,|  Du  Plessis  was  present 
in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Navarre.  He 
listened,  perhaps  with  a  smile,  to  the  precision  with 
which  the  assembled  divines  again  busied  them- 
selves in  the  regulation  of  female  fashions ;  but  it 
can  scarcely  be  imagined  that  he  anticipated  the 
persecution  which  their  nice  and  curious  ordinances 
■were  ere  long  to  bring  down  upon  his  own  family. 
"  The  deputy  of  Higher  Languedoc  propounded 
this  case  :  A  godly  woman  is  married  to  a  man  of 
the  contrary  religion,  who  will  have  her  wear  that 
apparel  which  is  unbecoming  Christian  modesty, 
and  in  case  of  noncompliance  with  her  husband's 
commands,  there  arise  quarrels  and  great  differ- 
ences between  them  ;  may  she  be  tolerated  in  the 
usage  of  those  habits  ?  The  assembly  is  of  opinion 
that,  to  avoid  the  above-mentioned  inconveniences, 


*  The  Anntomie  of  Abuses  was  published  in  1593. 

t  Chapter  iii.  Art.  41. 

t  At  this  asBsmhly  it  was  resolved  that  a  seal  should  be  enpraven  for 
the  future  use  of  tlie  national  synods.  The  device  wa.s  a  burning  bush, 
bearing  in  the  midst  of  it  riin'>  ^"^  surrounded  with  the  motto  FUigTor 
non  mnsumvr.    Chapter  ti.  Arh  31.    Quiok's  nous. 


A.  D.  1584.]  RESTRAINTS    ON     DRESS.  165 

she  may  be  borne  withal,  excepting^  on  those  days 
when  the  Lord's  Supper  is  celebrated,  or  she  pre- 
sents a  child  to  be  baptized,  in  which  she  shall 
clothe  herself  modestly,  and  so  testify  her  modesty 
and  Christian  humility."* 

It  was  in  the  following  year,  when  the 
Reformed  deputies  were  assembled  at 
Montauban  for  political  objects,  under  the  express 
license  of  the  kiiig,t  that  Du  Plessis  was  astonished 
by  the  exclusion  of  his  wife  and  daughters  from  the 
Lord's  Table,  because  they  refused  to  cut  off  their 
hair. I  It  was  pleaded  in  vain  that  their  style  of 
dress  was  strictly  comformable  with  modesty  ;  that 
it  had  been  worn  by  them  for  fifteen  years  in  Sedan, 
Geneva,  England,  the  Netherlands,  and  many  of  the 
chief  towns  of  France,  without  exciting  any  indig- 
nation among  their  fellow  Christians  ;  that  to  estab- 
lish a  peculiar  discipline  for  Montauban  was  to 
revive  the  arrogant  heresy  of  the  Donalists  ;^  that 
the  pastor,  in  the  objection  which  he  raised,  had 
plainly  mistaken  one  of  the  decrees  of  the  National 
Synod ;  and,  indeed,  that  as  to  the  regulation  of 
dress  in  general,  Calvin  had  expressly  interpreted 
the  passage  in  St.  Paul's  epistle  to  Timothy,  upon 
which  interference  was  commonly  founded,  as  relat- 
ing more  to  the  reformation  of  morals  than  of  ap- 
parel ;  denying  that  the  apostle  would  ever  have 
condescended  to  trifle  on  such  petty  peculiarities  ; 
and  transferring  sumptuary  laws  altogether  from  the 
minister  to   the   magistrate.     Not  even  a  solemn 

♦  Chapter  ii.  Art.  l'^. 

t  The  objects  for  which  this  assembly  was  summoned  are  stated  in  a 
memoir  presented  to  the  king,  in  order  to  obtain  his  permission,  dated 
December  23,  1583.  Uu  Plessis,  torn  ii.  Ixxvi.  p.  394.  The  demands 
made  by  the  deputies  au  Rni/,  occupy  60  pages  of  the  same  volume.— P. 
60fi,  ice. 

I  Several  other  families  encountered  equal  severities ;  "  pour  ne  voul- 
loir  faire  un  serment  que  Ton  requeroit  d'elles  qu'elles  ne  leurs  fliles  ne 
porteroient  jamais  leurs  cheveux  ou  fil  d'arecheal  dedansi,  estoient  piib- 
licquement  cm  es  i  TRgiise  et  retranchtes  de  la  Cene."     [hid.  p.  488. 

^  "Que  peiiser  que  Maniauban  sculc  feust  Eglise  ce  aeroit  revenir  A 
I'wreur  des  Uonaiistes."    Ibid.  p.  495. 


166  DEATH    OF  [CH.  XV. 

Confession  of  Faith,  drawn  up  by  Madame  Du  Pies- 
sis,  in  which  she  assented,  article  by  article,  to  the 
Symbol  of  the  Huguenot  Church,  availed  in  behalf 
of  her  offending  hair.  The  pastor  of  Montauban, 
obdurate  and  pertinacious  to  the  last,  continued  to 
resist ;  and  the  ladies,  in  the  end,  were  compelled 
to  have  recourse  to  another  church,  a  few  leagues 
distant,  in  which  the  minister  wisely  considered  the 
matter  indifferent,  and  admitted  them  to  commu- 
nion.* 

The  Duke  of  Anjou,  after  a  treacherous  and  un- 
availing attempt  upon  Antwerp,  had  returned  from 
his  enterprise  in  Flanders,  baffled,  chagrined,  and 
dishonoured. t  The  seeds  of  a  fatal  disease  had 
long  been  imbedded  in  his  constitution ;  and  to  the 
taint  resulting  from  his  vices,  rather  than  to  any 
slow  poison  administered  by  the  revenge  of  the 
Spanish  court  (as  was  whispered  at  the  time),  may 
be  attributed  the  premature  decay  which  gradually, 
but  surely,  conducted  him  to  the  grave. J 

""^    ■  His   death,  little   as  he  deserved  esteem, 

*  This  curious  history  is  told  at  great  length  in  a  Fragment  discovered 
among  Uu  I'lessis'  papers,  lom.  li.  I.xxxvii.  p.  487",  514.  Birch,  in  his 
Memoirs  of  Queen  EUzuheth,  stHtesthat  Mr.  Bacon  found  his  residence 
in  Montauhan  less  agreeable  than  it  had  used  to  be.  because  Mad  Du 
Plessis  sought  to  entangle  him  in  a  marriage  with  her  daughter,  and  also 
because  "she  was  exlreinely  incensed  against  him  for  taking  the  part 
of  the  principal  minister,  whom  she  persecuted  for  censuring  her  scon- 
dalnys  excess  in  her  head-attire." — Vol.  i.  p.  54. 

t  "  Aniino  jampridein  a'gcr  et  pra;leritorum  poenitentiS  maestus."  De 
Thou,  Lx.xix.  Ifi.  Sully,  who  had  an  inter\iew  with  h  m  after  his  return 
from  Flanders,  says  that  he  discovered  "  au  fond  de  son  coeur  une  mel- 
ancolie  ei  une  amertume  secrete  qui  le  devoroit  et  dont  rien  ne  povoit 
ie  distraire."     Tom.  i.  lib.  ii.  p.  127. 

[  Additions  aiix  Mm  rfc  Ca'itelnau,  liv.  iii  c.  i.  tom.  i.  p  701.  The 
Duke  of  Nevers  also  speaks  to  the  same  purpose.  "  Apres  s'esire  sauv6 
de  cetle  souverainetfe  cotnme  d'un  enibraseinent,  il  revint  en  France, 
furieux,  melancniiqne,  et  malade  II  n'osa  sc  montrer  4  la  Cour,  tani  il' 
y  esloit  pen  considen'.  el  se  vit  constraint  de  se  cacher  dans  la  solitude 
de  Chateau  Thierry;  oii  nos  M'moires  assenrent  qu'il  fut  empoisonn6 
par  une  Dame  de  ses  bonnes  amies.  Si  la  chose  est  vraye,  il  eul  au 
moins  cela  de  I'ancien  (lercule  dont  il  porloit  le  nom,  que  le  present 
d'une  femme  fut  cause  de  sa  mort."    Tom  i.  p.  91. 

No  credit  deserves  to  be  attached  to  the  rumour  that  the  Duke  of 
AnJou  was  poisoned.    Two  mouths  before  his  death  (April   14),  Du 


A.  0.1.584.]        THE  DUKE  d'anjou.  167 

either  morally  or  intellectually,*  was  most  import- 
ant to  France.  The  kin?,  although  in  the  prime 
of  life,  was  confidently  beheved  to  be  destitute  of  any 
chance  of  issue,  and  with  him  the  line  of  Valois 
would  become  extinct.  The  crown,  therefore,  on 
his  decease,  would  pass  to  the  house  of  Bourbon,  as 
descendants  of  Robert  de  Clermont,  the  youngest 
son  of  St.  Louis  ;  and  the  heretic  King  of  Navarre 
was  now  its  presumptive  heir.  Even  before  his 
brother's  death,  Henry  III.  had  not  scrupled  to  ac- 
knowledge the  legitimacy  of  this  claim,  and  his  own 
approval  of  it;t  but  the  Guises  were  little  inclined 
to  assent  to  so  peaceful  a  transfer  of  the  sceptre. 
Their  long  cherished  hopes  of  power  depended  upon 
the  troubling  of  the  waters  ;  and  could  they  but  once 

Plessis  wrote  to  the  king  of  Navarre,  "selon  le  jiigrment  de  tous  les 
Medediis  unanimemenl,  son  Altesse  est  ptitysiijiie  Ibriiie,  outre  I'lncoii- 
veuienl  d'uiie  veine  ouverie  pres  du  foie ;  et  la  pluspart  craignent  qu'il 
ne  passera  pas  deux  tnnis  "  Tom  ii  ))  575.  Bushequiiis  also  writes  of 
his  great  danger  on  llic29th  of  May  (Slardi  ?) ;  of  (he  "  fahula  vulgo  orta 
propiiiatum  venenutn;"  adding,  that  a  complaint  of  the  lungs  is  sus- 
pected Epijt  xxxiii.  And  agiiin,  "  rumor  est  constanseum  phtysi,  quae 
jam  ad  liecticam  indinat,  laborare."  Epist.  xxxiv.  April  10. 

*  "Quorundam  judicium  est  publico  magis  bono  sublalum  quam 
natum,  hominem  ohnoxium  pravis  fulilium  ministrorum  consiliis,  qui 
adulaiores  a  veris  amicis  non  discerneret,  et  qui  magnum  famam  ad- 
feciabat,  se.d  quamcumque  potius  q\iam  bonam,  facilem  suscipiendis 
action  bus,  scd  faciliorem  deponendis.  Ergo  omnis  vilaeju.s  inconstans, 
mobilis.inquiela,  miscendisperturbandisquebene  composltis  rebus  dedita, 
portendebatur."  Uusbeqnius,  Epist.  xxxviii.  De  Thou  is  more  lenient. 
After  speaking  of  the  great  piety  which  the  duke  exhibited  during  his 
last  illness,  he  concludes — '■  Fuu  corpore  brevi,  sed  bene  compacto,  facie 
fascA  et  paulum  lumida,  et  variolis  in  pueriii4  deformatil ;  caeterum  vario 
ingenio  pradjius,  acer,  comis,  niagnanlmus,  eloquens,  niagnilicus,  am- 
bitiosus,  inquletus,  celer."  Ixxix.  16.  We  do  not  discover  any  corrobora- 
tion of  the  favourable  parts  of  this  portrait  in  the  incidents  of  the  Duke 
of  Anjou's  life. 

t  "  f  "es  jMijrs  pass6s  aussi  sa  Majesty,  apres  son  disner,  estant  devant 
le  feu,  M.  de  Mayerine  present  ei  grand  nombrede  gentilshommes,  apres 
ung  long  discours  de  la  maladic  de  son  Altesse,  diet  ces  mots  :  '  Aujour- 
d'hui  je  rocognois  le  Roy  de  Navarre  pour  moii  stnl  el  unique  heritier. 
C'est  ung  prince  bien  n-  et  de  hon  naturel  Mon  naturel  a  tousjours 
est6  de  I'aimer,  et  je  scais  qu'il  m'aime.  II  est  ung  peu  ch'ilere  et  piquant, 
mats  le  fonds  en  est  bon,  je  m'asseure  que  mes  humeurs  lui  plairont,  et 
que  nous  nous  accoinmoderons  bien  ensemble.' "  Du  Plessis,  Au  Roy  de 
Navarre,  April  14,  1584,  tom.  ii.  xciv,  p.  575.  Rex  Navarrum  in  Literis 
honestat  titulu  quo  proximt  liesni  haeredes  honestari  solent.  Itusbequius, 
Eptst.  Xixvui.  June  18,  1585  (1584). 


168  THE  CARDINAL  OF  BOURBON.  [cH-  XV. 

raise  a  dispute  as  to  the  succession,  who  should  ven- 
ture to  name  the  channel  into  which  it  might  ulti- 
mately devolve  ?  The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  a  pa- 
ternal uncle  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  was  persuaded  to 
assert  a  claim  ;  and  although  he  represented  a  junior 
branch  of  his  family,  the  Catholics  readily  permitted 
that  defect  of  right*  to  be  atoned  by  his  community 
of  religion.  The  king  was  in  his  thirty-third  year; 
the  cardinal  had  already  passed  his  sixtieth  ;  yet  the 
weak  old  pian  meditated  a  dispensation  from  his 
vows  of  celibacy,  in  order  that  he  might  become  the 
father  of  a  royal  line  ;  affected  a  secular  garb  : 
and  assumed  the  title  of  first  prince  of  the  blood  and 
heir-presumptive  to  the  crown. f 

The  connivance  of  the  queen-mother  to  this  ele- 
vation of  the  cardinal  had  been  purchased  by  repre- 
senting to  her  that  he  was  but  a  puppet  who,  after 
having  been  used  a  little  while,  might  easily  be  put 
aside  ;t  so  that,  in  spite  of  the  Salic  law,  the  inher- 
itance of  the  kingdom  would  eventually  pass  to  her 
own  grandchildren,  the  issue  of  Claude  of  France 
by  the  Duke  of  Lorraine.     Important  aid  was  prom- 

*  Perefixe  represents  the  legal  quest  on  as  not  altogether  without  dif- 
ficulty ;  but  he  at  the  satiie  lime  adnnits,  that  according  to  the  Voustume 
de  Pans,  and  many  ilher  Constmncs  al.no.  collaieral  representation  was 
in  nowise  admissible,  p.  63.  The  doubt  gave  rise  to  many  controversial 
tracts.  The  king  having  one  day  tricked  the  cardinal  into  an  admission 
that  he  intended  to  assert  his  right,  briskly  lold  him,  "  Moii  hon  ami,  le 
C'haieh't  vous  le  donneroit,  mais  la  ('our  vous  I'dleroit."  Jmtrnal  de 
Henri  HI.  lum.  i  p  4'29 ;  implying  that  the  parliament,  acting  on  en- 
larged principles,  would  annul  any  decree  which  inferior  courts  might 
pass  in  his  favour. 

t  "  Q'linimd  iiuper  dictitalum  fuit  eum,  Sacris  et  Oardinalalu  repudi- 
atis,  ducturum  u.vorem  Montpenserii  viduam.  Duels  Guisii  sororem, 
nianetque  eiiamnum  ea  fani'i."  Busbcquius,  Ep.  xlii.  Oct.  H,  1584. 
"  (^ardinalis  Borbonius  Regni  snccessons  iiomen  affectat,  fertcjue  indigne 
sibi  prjeferri  fratris  filium,  ccrtioremque  ha?redem  juriicari.  Adeoquc 
astidito  t'ardinalitio  habitu  silii  plnr-^t  in  sagis,  ut  quibusdam  delirare 
videaiur."  Id.  Ep.  xUx.  April  25.  I5S5 

I  Ue  Thou.  Ixxx.  18.  Ixxxi.  5.  Perefixe  says  that  Guise  was  thought  to 
have  committed  a  political  blunder  in  setting  up  ihe  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  ; 
for  it  was  a  tacit  admission  that  after  that  prelate's  deaih.  which  could 
not  belong  protracted,  the  crown  belonged  to  his  nephew;  "mats  il 
faisoit  ])eut  eslre  sou  comptc  qu'il  auroit  opprimd  avanl  qu'U  eu  pust 
venir  la."— F  C>4. 


A.  D.  1581.]         roPlLAR   I-.XCITEMF.NT.  169 

ised  by  the  Spanish  court  also,  whose  chief  hope 
of  divertinor  the  dtteiition  of  France  from  the  Nether- 
lands was  founded  ou  the  possibility  of  rekindling 
her  civil  wars.*  For  that  purpose,  Phihp,  careless 
which  part  he  espoused  provided  discord  were  the 
result,  had  offered  large  subsidies,  three  years  before, 
to  the  King  of  Navarre,  without  any  stipulation  as 
to  religion.  If,  in  addition  to  drawing  the  sword, 
Henry  would  also  change  his  creed,  Phihp  promised 
that  the  bond  should  be  cemented  by  a  double  ma- 
trimonial alliance  ;  for  in  the  many  similar  negotia- 
tions in  which  the  King  of  Navarre  was  involved 
from  time  to  time,  the  infidelity  of  Margaret  appears 
to  have  been  a  point  altogether  assumed.  When 
Henry  promptly  declined  this  treaty,  and  answered 
on  the  question  of  religion,  tliat,  however  inferior 
he  might  be  to  his  Catholic  majesty  in  power,  he 
was  fully  his  equal  in  honour  and  in  conscience,  the 
Spanish  diplomatist  replied  that  he  did  not  know 
what  he  was  doing,  and  that  they  had  other  chap- 
men ready  for  their  bargain. f 

Nothing  was  omitted  by  Guise  which  could  tend 
to  inflame  popular  feeling  against  the  Huguenots ; 
the  pen  of  every  ready  writer,  and  the  tongue  of 
every  fluent  preacher,  was  bribed  or  cajoled,  as  ava- 
rice or  zeal  predominated,  to  assist  in  the  labour  of 
hatred  ;  and  in  this  odious  task  the  Jesuits  were 
more  especially  distinguished. J  Tlie  rigorous  pun- 
ishments which  liad  been  exacted  from  the  seminary 
priests  in  England,  whose  plot  had  so  long  and  so 
frequently  endangered  the  life  of  Elizabeth,  afforded 
a  seasonable  theme  to  declaimers.  Not  only  were 
the  terrors  of  the  "  Anglican  Persecution"  yelled  out 
even  to  hoarseness  from  the  pulpits  of  the  capital ; 

V 

*  "\nm  hujus  (Regis  eall)nlici)quidenn  Provinciarum  quieset  cepto- 
ruin  qiios  sperat  eventus  non  aliunde  pendet  quam  a  niotibus  et  perturba- 
tione  istius  Rfcni."     Busheiiuius,  Ep.  xlviii.     March  26,  15S5. 

t  Mi  n  tie  Uu  I'lessis-Moraay,  torn,  i-  p.  141. 

I  De  Thou,  lxxxi.6. 

Vol.  II.— P 


170  INDECISION  OF  [cH.  XV. 

but,  when  the  ears  of  the  rabble  were  thought  to  be 
satiated,  excitement  was  offered  to  their  eyes  also. 
Engravings  of  the  various  martyrdoms,  as  they  were 
termed,  depicting  to  the  life  each  fearful  process  of 
the  inhuman  penalty  which  the  i^nglish  law  then  ad- 
judged to  treason,  were  publicly  exhibited;  and  hired 
agents,  luiiigling  among  the  spectators,  explained  the 
horrible  details,  and  whispered  that  the  fate  of  France 
would  be  similar  if  Navarre  should  ever  ascend  the 
throne.  The  police  seized  the  original  plates  in  the 
residence  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  ;  but  the  evil  was 
but  aggravated  by  this  interference.  A  similar  pic- 
ture, designed  on  a  gigantic  scale  and  rendered  at- 
tractive by  glowing  colours,  was  affixed  to  the  porch 
of  the  burial-ground  of  St.  Severine.  "  I  myself 
saw  it  remaining  there  long  afterward,"  says  De 
Thou,  "  and  it  was  not  without  great  difficulty  that 
the  English  ambassador  at  length  prevailed  upon 
the  king  to  insist  that  the  seditious  officers  who 
superintended  the  church  should  remove  it  from  its 
position."* 

The  king,  perhaps,  in  his  heart,  felt  an  equal  dis- 
like to  each  of  the  great  conflicting  parties  ;  yet, 
however  strong  might  be  his  prejudices  against  the 
Reformed,  he  had  received  undoubted  proofs  of  their 
fidelity  to  his  person  in  a  transaction  which  must  at 
the  same  time  have  convinced  him  of  the  treason- 
able designs  of  the  League.  The  King  of  Navarre 
had  obtained  information  of  a  project,  meditated  by 
Ihe  Duke  of  Savoy  in  conjunction  with  the  leaguers, 
for  the  seizure  of  Dauphine  and  Provence  ;  and  he 
at  once  communicated  the  important  secret  to  the 
French  court.  Henry  dissembled  his  knowledge, 
and  lavished  more  than  ordinary  caresses  on  Guise 
and  his  friends  ;  but  either  consciousness  of  their 

*  Id.  ibid.  Joiirnnl  dr  Henri  lU.  torn.  i.  p.  Ifi.  The  Poliiiqiies  called 
the  Picture  Le  Tableau  (/<;  Madame  ile  IWoiilpensier,  alirihiiiiiif;  its  inven- 
tion to  thai  most  stirring  and  ambilioiis  woman,  who  fully  shared  the 
spirit  of  her  brother.  The  removal  did  not  lake  place  till  Henry  IV. 
entered  Paris  in  March  1594.    Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn,  ii-  p-  10. 


A.  D.   1584.]  HENRY  III.  171 

own  guilt,  or  experience  of  the  duplicity  of  their 
master,  impressed  them  with  a  full  conviction  that, 
under  all  this  semblance  of  royal  favour,  they  were 
objects  of  mortal  hatred.*  Any  doubt  which  they 
might  feel  concerning  their  detection  must  have 
been  removed  by  a  remarkable  conversation,  the 
tenor  of  which  forcibly  reminds  us  of  some  of  those 
apologues  under  which  oriental  princes  are  repre- 
sented as  shadowing  out  their  thoughts.  "  After 
dinner  to-day,"  said  the  king,  addressing  himself  to 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne  and  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  two 
of  the  staunchest  leaguers,  "  I  gave  audience  to  the 
ambassador  of  Venice,  a  government  to  which  I  feel 
greatly  indebted  for  its  magnificent  entertainment 
on  my  return  from  Poland.  The  envoy  asked  my 
advice  respecting  a  conspiracy  which  had  been 
detected  involving  some  of  the  most  powerful  sena- 
tors. The  evidence  against  them  is  incontestable, 
but  the  signory  is  doubtful  in  what  manner  to  pro- 
ceed. Now,  my  lords,  give  me  your  opinions." 
The  two  noblemen  replied  that  it  was  an  affair 
w^hich  demanded  great  prudence  and  an  avoidance 
of  all  precipitation;  that  distinct  proofs  of  guilt 
must  be  obtained  in  the  first  instance ;  and  that, 
even  then,  it  should  be  well  weighed  whether  more 
good  or  evil  were  likely  to  result  from  further  pro- 
secution. The  king  urged  them  to  be  more  ex- 
plicit, and  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  whose  suspicion 
was  excited  by  his  manner,  had  no  sooner  quitted 
the  royal  closet  than  he  repaired  to  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  and  ascertained  that  the  story  with 
which  the  king  had  been  amusing  them  was  alto- 
gether fictitious.! 

*  Lcttre  de  M.  Du  Plessis  au  Roy  de  Navarre,  Feb.  20,  1584.  Tom. 
ii.  xci.  p.  522.  The  king,  he  says,  after  the  audience,  in  which  he  was 
informed  ol'  this  treason,  bes^towed  "4  MM.  de  Cuise  phis  de  caresses 
beaucoup  que  du  couslunie  :  lesquels  toutcsfois  disent  privement  A  leur8 
amis  qu'ils  connoissent  bien  une  haine  mortelle  du  Roy  contre  eux." 
—P.  532 

t  Leltre  de  M.  Du  Plessis  au  Roy  de  Navarre.  March  9,  1584.  Tom. 
ii.  xcii.  p.  545. 


172  MANIFESTO  FROM   PERONNE.  [cH.  XV. 

Influenced,  perhaps,  by  these  and  similar  recollec- 
tions, Henry,  before  he  openly  espoused  either 
party,  endeavoured  to  persuade  the  King  of  Navarre 
to  change  his  creed.  The  Duke  D'Epernon  was 
despatched  on  an  especial  mission  for  this  purpose  ; 
if  it  succeeded,  all  difficulty,  it  was  thought,  would 
be  removed  as  to  the  succession  ;  numerous  Catho- 
lics who  had  embraced  the  league,  solely  prompted 
by  the  apprehension  of  a  heretic  dynasty,  would  at 
once  return  to  their  duty ;  and  the  faction,  thus 
weakened,  might  be  easily  suppressed.  But  the 
offer  was  rejected  after  the  question  had  been  so- 
lemnly argued  by  disputants  of  each  religion.* 

The  first  manifesto  of  the  leaguers  was 
Marctfai.  issued  from  Peronne,  in  the  name  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon.  It  was  directed 
quite  as  much,  perhaps  indeed  more,  against  the 
king  than  against  the  Huguenots  ;  it  embraced  a  re- 
view of  the  numerous  grievances  of  his  reign,  for 
the  redress  of  which  all  good  Catholics  now  thought 
it  incumbent  upon  them  to  take  arms ;  and  it  con- 
cluded with  an  adulatory  notice  of  Catherine,  with- 
out whose  wisdom  and  prudence  the  kingdom  would 
long  since  have  been  utterly  torn  in  pieces. f 

This  rebellious   instrument,   feebly   and 
^"  ■     timidly  answered  by  the  king,|  produced  a 

*  De  Thou,  Ixxx.  1.  "  Ka  Dissertatio  statim  a  Philippo  Mornteo  Ples- 
sio,  viro  raris  ingenii  dotibus  priedilo,  Uteris  elegantissmic  mandata  et 
ambitios*  inter  Proiestaiites  publicata."  We  have  not  mel  with  ihis 
traci  by  I)u  Plessis. 

t  This  manif'-slo  is  printed  in  the  Jl/.m  dpNevers,  torn.  i.  p.  641,  and 
in  the  Mi'm.  de  la  L'pue,  lom.  i.  p.  50.  An  amu.sing  mistake  arising  out 
of  its  issue,  is  noticed  by  Dn  Plessis,  Reponse  mi  Catholique  Anglnis, 
torn.  iii.  Ixxxiii.  p.  .'^44.  Diike  Casimir  despa<ihed  a  remonslrance 
against  it  to  Henry  HI.,  by  the  hands  of  Wier,  one  of  his  niosl  trusty 
counsellors,  who  had  been  his  agent  in  the  I'nglish  court  in  1509.  (Strvpe, 
Elizabeth.  Vol.  iii.  b.  i.  c.  8.)  Louis  d'Orleans,  the  author  of  a  tract  in 
favour  of  the  league,  written  under  the  assumed  character  of  an  Eng- 
lish Catholic  refugee,  deceived  by  the  name,  gravely  accu.<ed  Duke 
Casimirof  employing  as  a  diplomatist  un  Protecttur  ilex  Snrr-ers.  The 
better  known  Wier,  to  whom,  as  author  of  the  work  de  PrtBstigiis  Dee- 
monvm,  this  title  might  be  applied,  was  physician  totheDukeof  Cleves. 

t  Mem.  de  Nevers,  torn.  i.  p.  38.    Mem.  de  la  L<gue,  torn.  i.  p.  63. 


A.  D.  1585.]   NAVARRE  CHALLENGES  GUISE.    173 

widely  different  reply  from  the  court  of  Bergerac. 
A  noble  Declaration  against  the  calumnies  of 
the  League,  framed  by  Du  Plessis,*  con-  ""^  "' 
tained,  among  many  similar  passages,  one  which 
must  have  covered  the  intolerant  Romanists  with 
peculiar  shame.  "  The  King  of  Navarre,"  it  said, 
"  has  been  termed  the  sworn  enemy  of  the  Catho- 
lics ;  but  the  said  king,  who  wishes  to  open  his 
heart  to  all  the  world,  has  no  reluctance  to  display 
his  thoughts  as  well  as  his  deeds.  He  declares, 
therefore,  that  he  knows  and  believes,  and  has  al- 
ways known  and  believed,  that  provided  there  be  the 
foundation  of  a  sound  conscience,  diversity  in  religious 
belief  is  no  hinderance  to  a  good  prince  in  deriving 
loyal  service  indifferently  from  all  his  subjects ;  it 
being  plain  that  both  religions  equally  recommend, 
according  to  the  word  of  God,  the  duty  of  the  sub- 
ject to  the  sovereign,  and  of  the  inferior  to  the  su- 
perior." In  conclusion,  Henry  waved  the  privilege 
of  his  rank,  and  humbly  solicited  the  king,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  effusion  of  innocent  blood,  to  per- 
mit the  general  quarrel  to  be  decided  personally  be- 
tween himself  and  the  Duke  of  Guise,  either  in  sin- 
gle combat,  or  accompanied  by  as  many  retainers 
on  each  side  as  his  majesty'might  be  pleased  to  ap- 
point. Before  I)u  Plessis  penned  this  chivalrous 
cartel,  he  stipulated  that  in  case  of  its  acceptance, 
whatever  might  be  the  number  of  seconds,  himself 
sliould  be  one  ;  an  honour  which  his  royal  master 
accorfl«d  with  entire  willingness. f  The  challenge 
was  no  empty  bravado ;  nor  was  it  one  which  the 
temper  of  Guise  was  likely  to  decline,  if  policy 
would  have  allowed  its  acceptance.  He  replied  in 
general  terms,  that  he  owed  respect  to  all  the  princes 
of  the  blood,  and  that  he  personally  esteemed 
the  King  of  Navarre  ;  adding,  that  his  sole  object 
was  the  safety  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  was 

*  Tom.  iii.  x\\x.  p.  89.  t  Tom.  i.  ;>.  155. 

P2 


174  EDICT  OF  NEMOURS.  [cH.  XV. 

endangered,  and  the  repose  of  the  state  which  de- 
pended altogether  upon  uniformity  in  rehgion.* 

The  firm  conviction  expressed  by  Du  Plessis  of 
the  justice,  and  therefore  of  the  ultimate  success 
of  the  approaching  war,  attests  his  zeal,  his  sincer- 
ity, and  his  reliance  on  the  equity  of  Providence  ; 
his  anticipations  of  its  political  results  are  evi- 
dences of  the  most  unrivalled  sagacity.  "  You  may 
thank  God,  sire,"  he  observed  to  Henry,  on  receiv- 
ing intelligence  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  "  that 
your  enemies  commenced  the  war ;  for  come  it  must, 
some  day  or  other ;  and  better  is  it  that  it  should  do 
so  under  the  present  reign,  than  under  yours  which 
will  succeed  ;  better  can  you  support  it  now,  while 
you  are  still  young,  than  hereafter  when  you  have 
become  old.  For  us,  if  we  are  compelled  to  labour, 
we  shall  at  least  bequeath  tranquillity  to  our  chil- 
dren. The  name  of  God  is  abused,  and  He  will 
avenge  His  own  cause.  You  will  in  truth  encoun- 
ter grievous  troubles,  but  they  will  work  together 
for  your  good  ;  and  never  will  any  prince  have 
emerged  with  greater  glory  from  any  war,  than  1 
feel  confident  you  will  do  from  the  present,  if  you 
do  but  persist  in  fearing  God.^f 

Weak,  vacillating,  and  irresolute,  the  king  still 
hesitated  in  his  decision,  and  neglected  prepara- 
tion, even  when  Guise  was  already  in  the  field. 
The  army  of  the  league  at  first  did  not  exceed 
5,000  men,  and  might  have  been  dispersed  with 
little  difficulty;  but  Henry  shrank  from  action,  and 
deputed  the  queen-mother  to  negotiate.  In  a  con- 
ference held  first  at  Epcrnai,  and  subsequently  trans- 
ferred to  Nemours,  she  assented,  partly  from  neces- 
sity, partly  from  regard  to  her  own  private 

"  ^'  views,  to  the  promulgation  of  an  edict,  which 
amounted  to  an  entire  proscription  of  the  Hugue- 
nots.    Its  provisions  in  the  outset  were  declared 

*  Perefixe,  p.  71. 

t  Mi-m-  de  Du  Plessis-Mornay,  torn.  i.  p..U3. 


A.  D.   1585.]  EDICT  OF  NEMOURS.  175 

perpetual  and  irrevocable.  All  profession  of  the 
pretended  Reformed  creed  was  forbidden,  and  the 
Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Romish  faith  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  henceforward  the  sole  religion  of  the 
state.  Confiscation  and  death  were  to  be  the  penal- 
ties of  any  Huguenot  minister  who  should  be  found 
within  the  French  dominions  after  the  lapse  of  one 
month,  and  of  any  layman  who  should  extend  his 
residence  to  longer  than  six.  The  Reformed  were 
declared  incapable  of  holding  office  or  dignity ;  the 
Chambres-my-parties  were  abolished  ;  the  immediate 
surrender  of  the  cautionary  towns  was  demanded  ; 
amnesty  was  granted  for  all  acts  of  violence  which 
might  have  been  committed  by  the  leaguers,  in  their 
zeal  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  ;  and  every  per- 
son holding  a  public  employment  was  required  to 
subscribe  an  oath  of  inviolable  fidelity  to  these  or- 
dinances.* So  rigidly  were  the  provisions  of  this 
edict  observed  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Huguenots, 
that  the  king  rejected  a  petition  submitted  to  him 
by  some  defenceless  women  and  female  children. 
The  only  indulgence  which  they  solicited  was  per- 
mission to  live  within  the  confines  of  France,  with- 
out molestation,  in  any  obscure  and  sequestered  re- 
tirement which  his  majesty  might  assign.  Henry 
denied  the  request,  but  pledged  his  royal  word  that 
the  petitioners  should  be  safely  transported  to  Eng- 
land.f 

The  league  had  hitherto  failed  in  its  application 
to  the  Vatican  for  open  support ;  and  after  the  ac- 
cession of  Sixtus  v., J  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  ill  satis- 
fied at  the  reserve  of  the  Holy  Father,  had  under- 

*  Edit  du  roy  s\ir  la  reunion  deses  sujets  d  VEglisc  Cathnliqiie,  Apos- 
tolitjue,  et  Romaine.  M  Tn.  de  la  Lifrue,  torn.  i.  p.  178.  When  we  call 
10  mind  ihe  fHrocious  provisions  of  this  edict,  the  title  given  to  it  in  the 
Latin  translation  {Dc  posiremis  motibus,  p.  177)  may  he  thought  some- 
what wide  of  Its  contents.  "  De  conciliatione  aubditorum  suorum  ad 
gremium  Kcclcsie,"  Sic. 

t  Basbequius,  Ep.  Ui.    Dec.  6,  1585. 

X  AprU  24,  1585. 


176        SIXTUS  DISAPPROVES  THE  LEAGUE.     [CH.  XV. 

taken  a  journey  to  Rome,  in  order  to  ascertain  his 
sentiments.  To  his  surprise,  lie  drew  from  the  hps 
of  that  acute  and  wary  pontiff  an  unequivocal  con- 
demnation of  the  factious  union.  "  Firm  as  your 
king  may  be  in  his  attachment  to  the  church,"  were 
the  words  of  Sixtus,  "  he  will  be  compelled  in  the 
end  to  call  the  heretics  to  liis  aid,  in  order  to  obtain 
deliverance  from  the  tyranny  of  tlie  Cathclics."  On 
the  publication  of  the  edict  of  Nemours  he  expressed 
himself  yet  more  strongly :  he  denounced  tiie 
league  as  the  most  pernicious  confederacy  ever 
formed  against  either  religion  or  government :  he 
prophesied  the  dishonourable  accommodation  into 
which  he  foresaw  Henry  must  enter  with  Navarre 
and  Conde  ;  and  the  deluge  of  heresy  which  would 
consequently  overwhelm  France,  who,  like  another 
Jerusalem,  he  said,  would  become  the  prey  of  stran- 
gers, and  be  destroyed  by  the  very  hands  which 
ought  to  be  raised  for  her  protection.  The  duke, 
convinced  by  these  arguments,  persevered  in  the  in- 
tention which  he  had  before  entertained  of  with- 
drawing from  the  association. J 

Yet,  although  the  sagacity  of  Sixtus  V.  and  the 
profound  knowledge  of  liuman  nature  which  marked 
his  whole  life  enabled  him  thus  clearly  to  foretell 
the  results  of  the  league,  he  was  betrayed  by  ungov- 
ernable pride  into  an  idle  assumption  of  power, 
which  recent  history  might  have  taught  him  would 
avail  nothing  to  his  friends,  and  which  might  irritate 
but  could  not  injure  the  party  whose  overthrow  he 
designed.  Far  too  prudent  to  offer  either  men  or 
money  to  the  Guises,  he  yielded  to  importunity,  and 
opened  his  spiritual  armoury  in  their  service.     A 

■*  See  tliR  account  of  the  cofiiluct  of  the  Puke  of  Nevors  in  the  Avcr- 
trssement  prefi.veil  to  his  letters  Irom  Italy  to  the  Cardinal  of  lioiirbon,  in 
15S5.  M  niD.res.  torn.  i.  p.  CGI,  and  the  letters  themselves.  The  char- 
acter which  the  pope  sketched  of  the  ('ardinal  of  Bourbon,  in  the  Vlth 
letter,  is  a  remarkalile  evidence  of  his  sagacity,  and  the  />'<j>!A-nfs.<  with 
which  iXevers  coinmunicated  it  10  the  vain  old  gentleman  whom  it  rep- 
resented is  not  a  little  amusing, 


A.  D.   1585,]  BULL    OF    SIXTUS    V.  177 

bull,  not  surpassed  in  violence  by  any  similar  bolts 
of  vengeance  which  had  been  hurled  by  his  prede- 
cessors through  the  thickest  darkness  of 
more  ignorant  and  bigoted  limes,  was  di-      *'"' 
rected  against  the  nominal  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
pretended  Prince  of  Conde.* 

After  a  wordy  preamble,  asserting  that  a  depos- 
ing right  was  inherent  in  the  papacy,  it  proceeded 
to  denounce  the  once  king  and  former  princef  as 
obstinate  and  relapsed  heretics  ;  who  had  returned 
to  wallow  in  the  mire,  from  which  they  had  been 
happily  extricated. J  Looking,  therefore,  to  "  these 
detestable  and  degenerate  scions  of  the  illustrious 
House  of  Bourbon,"^  Sixtus  pronounced  them  "  from 
the  loftiness  of  his  throne  and  by  the  plenitude  of 
that  power  which  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords  had  bestowed  upon  him,  however  unwor- 
thily," by  "the  authority  of  the  omnipotent  God, 
of  the  blessed  Apostles,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  of 
himselT'll  to  be  relapsed  and  impenitent  heretics ; 
manifest,  public,  and  notorious  leaders,  fosterers, 
and  champions  of  schism ;  and,  therefore,  guilty 
of  treason  against  the  Divine  majesty,  and  enemies 
of  the  orthodox  Christian  faith.  Then  followed  a 
sentence  of  deprivation,  by  which  all  their  terri- 
tories and  possessions  were  declared  to  be  forfeited, 
and  both  themselves  and  their  posterity  were  for 
ever  rendered  utterly  incapable  of  inheritance  ;  all 
their  vassals  were  released  from  allegiance,  and 
exposed  to  the  pains  of  this  excommunication  unless 
they  formally  renounced  their  fidelity.     In  conclu- 

*  "  Contra  assertum  Regem  Navarrae  et  prntensum  Principwn  Con- 
dseum." 

t "  Quondam  Regem olim  Principem." 

j  "  In  eo  (]Uo  prius  erat  cteno  revolulus." 

$  "  Hanc  prolcm  detestabilem  ac  degenerem  inclytie  Borboniorum 
ftmilfe." 

II  "  Uaque  in  prascelso  hoc  solio,  et  in  plenitiidine  potestatis  quam  ipsa 
Rex  Reeum  ct  Domlnus  Dominantium,  licet  nobis  indignis,  tribuit,  con- 
stiiuli  aucioTiialc  Dei  Otnnipotentis,  ac  Beatorum  Petri  et  Pauli  Apos- 
tolorum  ejus,  el  nostrft,"  Ac. 


178         RECLAMATION    OF    THE    BOURBONS.    [cH.  XV, 

sion,  the  King  of  France  was  solemnly  admonished 
to  assist  in  the  execution  of  this  bull,  even  as  he 
revered  the  oath  which  he  had  pledged  at  his  coro- 
nation that  he  would  do  his  utmost  to  extirpate 
heresy.* 

The  first  counter-step  of  the  Bourbon  princes  was 
more  distinguished  by  boldness  than  by  good  taste. 
A  "  Reclamation"  was  posted  by  their  agents  in 
the  four  customary  public  places  at  Rome,  in  reply 
"to  the  futile  excommunication  of  Sixtus  V.,  who 
usurps  the  name  of  pope."f  Downright  abuse  is 
little  capable  of  transfusion  from  one  language  to 
another,  without  some  loss  of  pungency :  and  we 
despair,  therefore,  of  finding  exact  equivalents  for 
the  terms  which  represent  the  papal  instrument  to 
be  fantastical,  impious,  unjust,  and  false.  "  As  to 
the  imputed  crime  of  heresy,  of  which  the  said 
princes  are  untruly  and  unjustly  accused  by  the 
said  Sixtus,  who  arrogates  to  himself  the  title  of 
pope,  they  reply  (with  all  respect  to  his  holiness) 
that  he  lies  falsely,  wickedly,  and  maliciously ;"  and 
they  then  undertook  to  prove,  before  a  general  coun- 
cil, that  he  himself  was  the  greatest  of  all  here- 
tics. If  the  pope  should  refuse  to  appear  before 
that  council,  and  to  submit  to  its  judgment,  they 
denounced  him  as  a  rebel  against  his  own  can- 
ons, as  a  rash  and  turbulent  tyrant,  as  no  other 
than  Antichrist ;  and  they  vowed  to  pursue  both  him 
and  his  successors,  under  that  name,  with  inter- 
minable war,  as  was  required  by  their  own  injured 
dignity  and  by  the  affront  which  he  had  offered  to  the 
whole  royal  blood  of  France.  They  concluded 
with  an  appeal  to  all  princes  and  states  (whose  in- 

*  The  original  bull  is  printed  in  the  Tract  De  postremis  motibus,  p. 
245,  with  a  very  amusing  Cfrisiira  not  less  virulent  than  itself,  attached 
to  each  paragraph  by  the  zealous  Proiestaiil  editor. 

t  We  are  by  no  nncan.s  sure  whether  this  document  was  originally 
written  in  French  or  in  Latin.  It  occurs  in  the  (brmer  language  in  the 
M<vt.  de  la  Ligue,  torn.  i.  p.  243 ;  in  the  Lstin  in  the  Tract  De  postreviis 
motibus,  p.  305. 


1 


A.  D.  1586.]  WAR  OF  THE  THREE  HENRIES.     179 

terest  was  not  less  concerned  than  their  own)  to  as- 
sist them  in  repr'^ssing  the  tyranny  and  usurpation 
of  this  pope,  and  of  those  who  had  leagued  with 
him  in  France  and  elsewhere. 

Far  more  dignified  and  temperate  than  this  first 
hasty  ebullition  of  anger,  was  the  sober  letter 
framed  by  Du  Plessis  in  his  master's  name  to  the 
Sorbonne,  expressing  willingness  to  submit  to  the 
decision  of  a  general,  or  even  of  a  national  coun- 
cil.* The  same  proposition  was  repeated  in  a  new 
draught  of  association  signed  at  Bergerac  in  No- 
vember,! not  only  by  the  Refoirned,  but  by  many 
Catholics  who  now  adhered  to  the  King  of  Navarre.  J 
But  any  attempt  to  follow  with  minuteness  the 
transactions  either  of  the  cabinet  or  of  the  field 
during  this  War  of  the  three  Henries,^  as  it  is  named, 
would  needlessly  distract  the  reader  ;  and  we  must 
hasten  onward  to  results.  Navarre  was 
able  to  maintain  himself  during  the  winter  ^  ' 
and  spring  without  exposure  to  any  serious  attack  ; 
and  his  own  strength  was  so  equally  balanced  with 
that  arrayed  against  him,  that  the  operations  lan- 
guished from  mutual  apprehension.  ||  Conde  was 
less  fortunate ;  and,  after  encountering  more  than 
one  severe  check,  he  crossed  the  Channel,  in  order 
to  renew  solicitations  which  he  had  before  urged  on 

*  Tom.  iii.  xlvii.  p.  208.  A  letter  addressed  about  this  time  to  Henry 
m.  by  Du  Plessis,  iti  his  own  nams,  urging  him  to  call  a  national  coun- 
cil, is  in  pan  so  inflated  as  to  create  a  suspicion  that  the  writer  purposely 
accommodated  his  style  to  tlie  meretricious  taste  olthe  person  whom  he 
wa.s  .solicitmg  Towardsthe  close  occurs  the  following  remarkable  spe- 
cimen of  bathos  :  "You  ii:ajesty  will  pardon  my  boldness.  In  great 
necessities,  great  men  do  not  disregard  even  the  most  trifling  suea«s- 
tions.  The  bark  of  a  single  dog  lias  saved  many  a  house  from  pillage; 
the  cackle  of  one  bird  waa  the  salvation  of  the  capiiol."  Ibid.  xlvi.  p. 
207. 

t  Ibid.  p.  215. 

t  Ibid.  p.  231. 

^  The  king,  Navarrf.  ind  Guise. 

fl  Nostre  estat  esi  if  1  la  proportion  si  balancee  de  celui  qui  assaut  i 
celui  qui  defend,  que  Tung  lie  peult  pas  ruyner  I'aultre,  sans  se  ruyner 
Hoi  mesmus.  Letter  from  Du  Plesais  to  the  ambaasador  in  the  Grisons, 
Feb.  4,  1586.  Ibid.  p.  303. 


180  NEGOTIATION  WITH  ENGLAND.  [jH.  XV. 

Queen  Elizabeth.*  His  suit,  backed  by  a  special  en- 
voy from  Henry,  was  favourably  received.  The  latter 
indeed  well  knew  the  tone  in  which  the  English  prin- 
cess might  be  most  successfully  addressed ;  and  a 
letter  in  his  own  handwriting,  framed  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  which  we  are  narrating,  is 
tinctured  with  a  spirit  of  gallantry  which  must  have 
been  eminently  agreeable  to  the  taste  of  the  virgin 
queen.  "  I  have  need  of  my  friends,"  says  this 
adroit  diplomatist ;  "  my  all  is  at  stake,  and  1  have 
no  time  to  lose.  But  I  rely  with  confidence  on 
your  majesty's  aid,  and  in  that  hope  I  feel  my  cou- 
rage redoubled.  I  call  to  remembrance  that  I  am 
combating  in  your  behalf ;  and  inspired  by  your 
favour,  all  things  appear  to  me  not  only  possible,  but 
easy."t  Later  despatches  express  gratitude  for  the 
success  of  his  application  ;J  and  a  draft  of  a  paper 
is  still  remaining,  penned  by  Burleigh,  in  the  course 
of  the  summer  of  1586,  in  which,  after  stating  that 
Navarre's  "  condition  is  very  low,"  and  throwing 
out  some  fear  of  his  being  tempted  to  abjure,  he 
shows  that  100,000  crowns  may  be  placed  at  the 
king's  service  ;  that  if  he  is  compelled  to  abandon 
La  Rochelle  he  shall  receive  the  protection  of  an 
English  fleet,  and  that  he  shall  find  an  honourable 
asylum  on  the  shores  of  Britain  till  he  can  establish 
his  rights.^ 


*  Among  the  Cottonian  MS?.  (Titus,  B.  2)  is  a  letter  from  Lord  Bur- 
leigh to  ihe  Earl  of  Sussex,  giving  an  account  of  a  long  and  very  favour- 
able aufiience  granted  to  Cond^  by  Elizabeth  in  1580. 

f  Lettre  du  Roy  de  Navarre  a  la  Royne  d'Anglelerre,  escrite  de  sa 
main.     Cnrrespondanci  de  Du  Plessls,  loni.  111.  xvi.  p.  26. 

X  Lettredu  Rov  de  Navarre  a  la  Royne  d'Angleterre.  Tbid.  Ixxvii.  p. 
326.  Lettre  dv  M.  Du  Plessis  a  M.  de  Walsingham,  Feb.  18,  1586. 
7l)/d.  Ixxviii.  !>.  327. 

$  Consvltatinn  for  Xavarre,  June  20,  1586,  printed  by  Strype.  Eli- 
znbeth,  vol.  iii.  book  ii.  ch.  iii.  Burleigh  had  received  frequent  letters 
from  Henry,  and  Willi  his  characlerisiic  wariness  had  forborne  from  an- 
swering any  of  them.  At  length,  in  1584,  he  wrices  in  the  following 
very  strong  language:  after  profe.^sing  himself  his  majesly's  "  humble, 
devoted  servitor,"  he  adds,  "  not  so  much  for  your  kingdom,  which  I  do 
honour  greatly,  but  for  your  magnanimity  and  constancy  in  the  ina)nt» 


A.  D.  1586.]  CONFERENCE  AT  MONTBELLIARD.       181 

The  subsidies  thus  afforded  by  England,  and  the 
great  personal  exertions  of  Beza,  who,  notwithstand- 
ing his  advanced  age,  undertook  a  pilgrimage,  as  it 
were,  from  Geneva  to  the  Protestant  German  princes, 
succeeded  in  awakening  among  those  powers  a 
strong  feeling  in  behalf  of  the  Huguenots.  A  solemn 
conference  Avas  held  in  the  presence  of  Frederic, 
count  of  Wirtemburg,  at  Montbelliard,  between  the 
leading  champions  of  the  Lutheran  and  of  the  Calvin- 
istic  churches;  and  Beza  and  James  Andreas  of  Tubin- 
gen measured  their  controversial  weapons  in  a  very 
futile  combat.*  The  questions  which  they  agitated 
concerned  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  person  of  Christ, 
baptism,  predestination,  images,  and  organs  ;  and 
contrary  to  the  wish  of  Beza,  who  preferred  the  syl- 
logistic form  of  argument,  his  adversary  succeeded 
in  obtaining  permission  to  declaim.  Although  it  is 
said  that-unusual  gentleness  was  observed  by  the  dis- 
putants themselves,!  the  conference  terminated  by  a 
direct  breach  of  promise  on  the  part  of  the  Germans^ 
It  had  been  mutually  agreed,  for  the  sake  of  peace,- 
that  no  publication  of  the  acts  should  be  allowed ; 
yet  no  sooner  had  the  verbal  battle  subsided,  than 
the  press  teemed  with  claims  of  victory  asserted  by 
the  Lvitherans ;  and  Beza,  in  self-defence,  i-esorted 
to  the  same  weapon. J  Little  as  might  be  the  gaiu 
to  religion  by  this  conflict,  its  results  were  advan- 
tageous to  the  Huguenots  ;  for  the  Germans  were 
aroused    by  Beza's  energy,  and,   having  satisfied 


Aance  of  the  true  religion  of  Chrisc,  wherein  I  pray  God  to  assist  yotf 
*rith  His  grace,  to  the  confusion  of  Antichrist  and  of  his  members." 
— Id.  ibid,  book  i.  ch.  xviii. 

*  Etsi  autem  facile  erat  cuivis  perspicere  nihil  ex  ejusmodi  collatione 
fructOs  expeciaiidum,  quum  neutra  pars  a  sui  scntentid  dimoveri  vellet, 
et  alteram  insuam  pertrahere  non  posset.  Fayus  TIIOMNHM.\TION 
Bezee,  p.  53. 

t  Placide  discessum  est  sine  bile  et  amarulentid,  Bed  nuUo  fVuctO,  U< 
leti  in  talibus  palasstris  publicis  continRcre  solet. 

%  Response  de  M.  Th.  de  Bera  au.v  Actes  de  la  Conference  de  MontbeU 
hard  imprimcesa  Tubingue.  Geneve,  1687.     See  also  De  Thou,  Ixxjtf- 

Vol.  II.— Q 


182  FRIVOLITY  OF  HENRY  III.  [cH.  XT. 

their  scruples  of  breaking  through  peace  by  a  pre- 
liminary embassy  to  the  King  of  France  (which  he 
at  first  avoided,  and  afterward  received  with  haugh- 
tiness), they  despatched  a  very  large  auxiliary  force 
to  strengthen  the  Reformed.* 

Neither  the  menace  of  this  foreign  invasion  on  the 
one  hand,  nor  the  unprincely  servitude  to  which  he 
w^as  reduced  by  the  leaguers  on  the  other,  could 
rouse  Henry  from  his  disgraceful  apathy.  Much  of 
his  summer  was  passed  at  Lyons,  wiiere  he  princi- 
pally devoted  himself  to  the  increase  of  his  dog- 
kennel,  by  selections  from  a  celebrated  breed  which 
that  city  produces.  Amid  tlie  general  distress  of 
his  kingdom  and  the  bankruptcy  of  his  private  trea- 
sury, he  expended  more  than  100,000  crowns  annu- 
ally on  this  unworthy  establishment ;  and  a  large 
train  of  male  and  female  attendants,  connected  with 
its  duties  and  hired  at  extravagant  wages,  every- 
where accompanied  the  progress  of  the  court.  Apes 
and  parrots  were  among  his  other  favourite  com- 
panions, and  so  fickle  was  he  in  his  choice,  that  he 
required  perpetual  change  in  these  animals,  careless 
of  the  sums  lavished  for  its  attainment.  "  Never 
shall  I  forget  the  strange  attitude,  and  the  yet 
stranger  dress,  in  which  I  found  this  prince,"  writes 
Sully,  who  had  obeyed  his  summons  at  an  important 
moment,  when  for  a  short  time  he  seemed  willing  to 
disembarrass  himself  from  the  league  by  a  union 
with  the  Huguenots.  "  He  had  a  sword  by  his  side, 
a  hood  on  his  shoidders,  a  little  bonnet  on  his  head, 
a  basket  full  of  very  small  dogs  hanging  from  his 
neck  by  a  riband ;  and  he  kept  himself  so  still,  that 

*  10,000  Reistres,  10,000  Swiss,  and  6000  Lansquenets,  who  were  lo 
be  joined  on  the  IVontiers  by  4000  French  arquebusiers.  and  a  troop  of  no- 
blesse. Instiuctinn  imurM.  Constans,  allant  vers  M.  de  Monltnorency. 
Du  Plessls'  Correspondancc,  torn.  iii.  Uxxix.  p.  329.  Hut  the  numbers 
are  variously  stated  in  other  places  ;  and  it  is  a  frequent  subject  of  com- 
plaint that  not  iTiore  than  half  the  stipulated  Reislre.s  ever  entered 
France,  hislructwn  nu  .Sieur  du  Fay,  torn.  iv.  p.  127.  Lcttre  de  M.  Du 
Fle.ssis  a  M.  de  Morlas,  Ibid.  p.  134.  du  mime  a  M.  de  la  MarsilUere, 
Ibid.  p.  164. 


A.  D.   1586.]    FRIVOLITIES    OF   HENRY   HI.  183 

while  he  was  speaking,  head,  hands,  and  feet  were 
equally  motionless."*  One  other  cliildish  taste  in 
which  he  indulfjed  was  an  inordinate  fancy  for  col- 
lectinfT  illuminations  from  missals.  Little  regarding 
the  injury  which  the  costly  manuscripts  for  which 
they  were  originally  designed  might  suffer  by  their 
abstraction,  he  cut  out  those  miniatures,  wherever 
they  could  be  discovered,  in  order  to  paste  them  on 
the  walls  of  his  private  oratories. f 

These  frivolities,  and  the  inconclusive  conduct  of 
the  war,  notwithstanding  considerable  armies  were 
in  the  field,  awakened  a  natural  suspicion  among  the 
Leaguers  that  the  king  was  acting  with  duplicity, 
and  secretly  encouraging  the  Reformed.  Strong 
resolutions  declaratory  of  that  belief  were  passed  in 
a  meeting  held  at  Orcamp ;  and  it  was  determined 
that,  for  the  future,  Guise  should  act  according  to 
his  own  discretion,  without  awaiting  the  royal  com- 
mands. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Henry  at  all 
times  would  most  gladly  have  extricated  himself 
from  the  Leaguers  by  the  union  which  they  sus- 
pected ;  and  his  chief,  and  certainly  not  unreason- 
able hope,  still  arose  from  the  probable  conversion 
of  Navarre.  The  skill  of  Catherine,  it  was  thought, 
might  effect  this  most  desirable  change  ;J  but  some 
conferences  which  were  held  for  the  pur-  ^ 

it.iii-  ^^  jj    December. 

pose,  at  St.  Bns  near  Cognac,  produced 

little  but  angry  recrimination  and  brisk  repartees. 

"  There  is  nothing,  madam,"  said  the  King  of  Na- 

*  Mrmoircs,  torn  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  1G2.  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1582  sent  ITenry 
III.  a  present  of  EngliNh  dogs,  "  and  otlicr  sinfiularilles ;"  for  which,  in 
return,  he  "  commaiuled  to  he  made  an  exceeding  marvellous  princely 
coach,  and  to  be  provided  (bur  of  the  fairest  moiles  which  are  lo  be  had 
for  to  carry  your  highriess's  litter." — Despatch  from  the  English  Ambas- 
sador at  Parts,  cited  by  Strype,  Elizabetk,vo\.  iii.  book  i.  ch.  8. 

t  De  Thou,  Ixxxv.  19. 

i  "  Uuant  a  moi  j'ai  toujoirs  crO  que,  si  elle  y  failloit,  une  atitre  ne 
pouvoit  I'ciitreprendrc  apris  elle."  says  the  writer  of  a  letter  printed 
among  the  Preuves  du  Journal  de  Henri  III.  lom.  iii.  p.  205,  which,  al- 
though written  under  an  assumed  character  (for  internal  evidence  may 
be  adduced  that  it  is  from  the  pen  of  a  Huguenot),  probably  contains  (be 
genuine  report  of  Bome  one  present  at  these  conferences. 


184  CONFERENCES   AT   ST.  BRIS.  [cH.  XV, 

yarre,  "  of  which  I  can  accuse  myself,  unless  it  be 
too  rigid  an  adherence  to  my  word.  Neither  do  I 
charge  your  majesty  with  any  designed  breach  of 
faith;  but,  perhaps,  considering  your  time  of  life, 
you  rely  too  much  upon  your  memory,  and  forget 
therefore  too  easily  the  promises  which  you  have 
pledged."*  "  What  is  it,  after  all,  that  you  require  T" 
asked  the  queen,  in  a  tone  of  impatience,  when  her 
opening  propositions  v/ere  rejected.  Henry,  in  re- 
ply, threv/  a  careless  glance  upon  the  handsome 
women  whom  she  had  selected  to  assist  in  her  ne- 
gotiation, and  answered,  "  Nothing,  madam,  that  I 
see  before  me."t  When  the  Duke  of  Nevers  venr- 
tured  to  suggest  that  Henry's  station,  if  he  were  rcr 
conciled  to  the  king,  would  be  far  more  honourable 
and  more  independent  than  that  which  he  now  occu- 
pied among  the  refractory  and  parsimonious  Rochel- 
lois,  with  whom  he  had  not  credit  to  raise  a  loan  of 
half  a  dozen  livres  in  his  utmost  necessity,  Henry 
interrupted  him  by  a  sarcastic  reference  to  his  Lom- 
bard origin  :  "  We  do  not  need  any  loans,  monsieur, 
for  we  have  no  Italian  in  our  party ;"  and  he  then 
added,  with  greater  dignity,  "  at  La  Rochelle  I  can 
do  every  tlnng  that  I  wish,  because  I  wish  for  no- 
thing which  is  not  my  due."|  Sully,  who  had  more 
than  common  opportunities  of  ascertaining  the  real 
intentions  of  the  queen,  expresses  a  conviction  that 
her  sole  object  was  to  deprive  Henry  of  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Huguei)0ts,  and  to  lead  him  to  counterr 

*  /(/.  p.  301.  These  were  the  parting  words  at  the  .second  conference, 
and  "  on  commenca  4  esperer  qiielciue  douceur  de  la  troisiesme  des  re- 
prodies  s'litoit  ecouliie  aux  deux  premieres." 

t  Peretixe,  p.  79.  Matiliieu,  torn.  i.  liv.  viii.  p.  518.  The  latter  histo- 
rian, vyho  is  somewhat  less  decorous  in  his  narration  of  the  aiieodoie  than 
is  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  adds,  "  Cet  equivoque  fut  incontinent  re- 
itiarqu^  par  les  Uamcs  pour  un  traict  de  la  (lalanterie  de  ce  Prince,  qui  en 
tout  temps  et  en  toute  sorte  de  disc.ours  faisoit  voir  la  vivacity  de  ses  re- 
parties." 

t  D'Aubi^ne,  Hist.  Univ.  torn.  iii.  liv.  i.  c.  6.  Perefixe,  !>.  79.  It  is 
only  from  the  former  that  we  derive  Henry's  oi)ening  sarcasm  ;  Noiis 
n'entendons  rein  aux  imjiosUions,  /"or  il  iCy  a  pas  un  Italien  parmi 
jpous. 


A.  D.  1587.]       THE    DUKE    DE    JOYEXJSE.  185 

mand  the  advance  of  his  Germans.  After  stating 
the  sources  from  which  he  derived  this  intelligence, 
he  adds,  "  I  believe  the  information  which  I  received 
to  be  true,  notwithstanding  in  that  court  lying,  next 
to  licentiousness,  was  the  principal  study."* 

The  royal  forces  in  the  ensuing  campaign 
were  divided  into  three  bodies  ;  one  headed  by 
the  Duke  of  Guise  was  opposed  to  the  Germans  on 
the  frontier ;  a  second,  far  better  appointed,  was  en- 
trusted to  the  Duke  de  Joyeuse,  to  confront  the 
Bourbon  princes  in  Poitou  ;  and  the  third,  under  the 
king  himself,  formed  an  army  of  observation  to  act 
according  to  the  demand  of  circumstances.  A 
crafty  policy  has  been  discovered  in  these  arrange- 
ments ;  Joyeuse,  it  is  said,  was  instructed  not  to 
attack,  and  his  great  superiority  over  the  enemy 
whom  it  was  not  intended  that  he  should  do  more  than 
check, would,  it  was  thought,  effectually  prevent  any 
but  defensive  tactics  on  their  side.  Inferior  troops, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  purposely  committed  to  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  Germans ;  and  that  the  king,  thus 
emancipated,  might  recover  all  his  lost  authority. 
If  such  were  indeed  the  refined  scheme  which  Henry 
framed,  never  was  a  crafty  hope  more  egregiously 
frustrated. 

'Anne  de  .Toyeuse,  eldest  son  of  the  Viscount 
d'Arques,  possessed  many  great  and  generous  quali- 
ties ;  his  birth  was  illustrious,  his  temper  liberal ; 
his  valour  thoroughly  approved  ;t  and  the  chief  draw- 
back upon  his  good  fan)c  is  found  in  that  bad  emi- 
nence of  favouritism  to  which  he  had  been  exalted 
by  the  caprice  of  Henry.     Yet  higher  honours  than 

*  Mi-m.  torn.  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  ITS. 

t  De  Thou  speaks  sotnewtiat  sliglitino;Iy  of  the  niililary  qualifications 
or.Ioyeuse,  whom  he  cMs  pcenrtiro.  (Ixxxvii.  (i.  Var.  Led.  a.)  Never- 
theless, in  1580,  at  tlie  siege  of  La  Fore,  he  had  evinced  great  personal 
courage.  On  one  occasion,  during  a  sortie,  he  was  desperately  wounded, 
lositig  seven  teeth  and  a  part  of  his  jaw.  Journal  de  Henri  III.  loin.  i. 
p.  306. 

Q2 


186  THE    DUKE    DE    JOYEUSE.  [cH.  XV. 

those  of  a  dukedom  and  a  peerage  awaited  his  ac- 
ceptance, after  he  had  once  pleased  the  humour  of 
his  prodigal  master ;  he  was  affianced  to  Louise  de 
Vaudemont,  a  sister  of  the  queen  ;  the  nuptials  were 
celebrated  with  unprecedented  magnificence ;  the 
dower  assigned  to  the  bride  was  that  of  a  daughter 
of  France,  300,000  crowns  ;  and  the  expenditure  of 
the  seventeen  days  of  revelling,  during  which  the 
marriage  festivities  were  prolonged,  was  estimated 
at  not  less  than  four  times  that  extravagant  amount.* 
That  a  courtier  thus  distinguished  by  royal  favour, 
and  ambitious  of  reputation  in  the  field,  should  be 
invested  with  the  chief  military  command,  appears 
scarcely  beyond  the  ordinary  course  of  fortune. 
Nevertheless,  the  appointment  of  Joyeuse  has  been 
reputed  a  court  intrigue,  arising  out  of  the  increas- 
ing influence  of  a  rival  favourite,  the  Duke  d'Eper- 
non.  Both  Pasquier  and  Sullyf  have  wearied  them- 
selves with  conjectures  as  to  the  real  motive  by 
which  this  nomination  was  prompted :  yet  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  doubt  the  conclusion  to  which 
the  latter  inclines,  that  it  was  an  especial  mark  of 
the  king's  esteem,  when  we  are  assured  that  the 
army  was  composed  of  the  best  troops  in  France, 
that  its  ranks  were  thronged  with  chosen  nobility, 
and  provided  with  every  appliance  by  which  victory 
could  be  secured, 

The  King  of  Navarre,  on  receiving  advice  that 
the  Germans  were  in  motion,  endeavoured  to  secure 
quarters  which  might  favour  his  junction  with  them 
on  their  advance.  Pressed  by  the  greatly  superior 
army  of  Joyeuse,  he  occupied  by  a  forced  march 
the  town  of  Coutras,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Poune  with  the  I'lsle,  designing  to  interpose  the 

*  One  of  the  spectacles  exhibited  on  this  occasion  was  a  drama  on  the 
Btory  of  Circe  {la  Trn'jidie  dr  Circe),  which,  when  composed  by  D'Au- 
bign6  some  lime  before,  had  been  laid  aside  on  account  of  its  great  exr 
pense.  Hixt.  Secreir  du  Sieur  d'Aubigne,  xxx.  prefiLxed  10  his  ^Idraj- 
(urex  de  liaron  de  Fccneste. 

^  l/ettres,  lom-  i.  liv.  xi.  p.  710,    Mim.  iU  sup. 


A.D.I 587.]     d'aubigne  and  sully.  187 

former  river  between  himself  and  his  enemy.  In 
this  object  he  anticipated  Joyeuse  but  by  a  single 
hour ;  and,  even  after  it  was  attained,  the  royalists 
had  the  choice  of  compelling  him  to  fight.  Of  the 
battle  which  ensued,  we  possess  two  most  vivid 
narratives  ;  one  from  the  pen  of  D'Aubigne,  the 
other  from  that  of  Sully,  each  of  whom  shared  the 
dangers  of  the  combat.  Both  these  great  men  had 
rejoined  their  master  on  the  very  eve  of  the  occur- 
rence :  D'Aubigne,  on  recovering  from  a  severe  ill- 
ness ;  Sully,  after  a  hazardous  excursion  to  Paris  in 
order  to  be  present  at  the  accouchement  of  his  wife, 
then  resident  in  the  capital  under  a  feigned  name. 
It  is  no  slight  proof  of  the  courageous  zeal  which 
animated  every  class  among  the  Huguenots,  that 
they  continued  to  assemble  in  Paris  for  worship  ; 
and  that  the  child  of  which  Madame  de  Bethune 
was  delivered,  was  held  at  the  font  by  a  friendly 
bourgeois  and  his  wife,  notwithstanding  the  real 
godfather  was  imprisoned  at  the  moment  on  account 
of  his  faith,  and  that  several  women  had  been 
recently  burned  for  infractions  of  the  edict  of 
Nemours.* 

The  army  of  Joyeuse  amounted  to  somewhat 
more  than  12,000  men,  and  a  large  reserve  was  ad- 
vancing to  increase  his  ranks  ;  that  of  Navarre  con- 
tained scarcely  half  the  same  number ;  and  the  hosts 
did  not  differ  less  in  appearance  than  in  absolute 
force.  "  For  on  the  one  side,"  to  employ  the  words 
of  Dryden,  translating  Maimbourg,t  "  there  was 
nothing  to  bo  seen  but  gilded  armour  gloriously 
damasqued,   glittering  in  the   sun;  painted  lances 

*  U  y  exit  en  ce  temps  Id  plusiriirs  femmes  bruises  pour  ce  sujet. 
Bully,  iUm.  torn.  i.  liv.  ii.  p.  187;  where  he  gives  an  account  of  the 
hazard  to  which  he  was  exposed  during  this  visit  to  Paris. 

t  History  of  the  Leagw,  p.  212.  Maimboiirg  has  closely  followed 
D'Aubign(i,  who  speaks  of  Joyeuse  as  pare  d'armes  couvertcs  d'argent 
et  d'esmail :  of  Its  lances  si  pleines  de  tafetas  qu'elles  portoient  Pombre  ; 
of  the  royalists  marching,  cammed  lavicloire  et  non  au  combat.  Hist. 
Untv.  torn,  ili,  liv.  i.  c.  14. 


188  BATTLE    OF    COUTRAS.  [cH.  XV. 

covered  over  with  ribands,  with  their  banderolles 
dancing  in  the  air  ;  rich  coats  of  velvet,  with  broad 
lace  and  galoon  of  gold  and  silver,  wherewith  every 
troup  was  habited,  according  to  the  colours  of  his 
captain;  large  and  beautiful  coloured  plumes  wav- 
ing on  their  crest,  and  shadowing  them  in  large 
bunches ;  scarfes  magnificently  embroidered  and 
edged  with  long  gold  fringe  ;  and  all  these  young 
cavaliers  carrying  the  cyphers  and  colours  of  their 
mistresses,  as  proudly  adorned  as  if  they  were 
marching  in  a  carrousal,  and  not  on  the  point  of 
giving  battail.  To  conclude,  we  may  say  it  was  an 
army  equipped  after  the  Persian  mode,  where  so 
much  luxury  and  pomp  was  seen,  and  so  much  gold 
and  silk  in  the  habits  of  the  men  and  the  caparisons 
of  the  horses. 

"  But  the  contrary  side  afforded  no  such  specta- 
cle ;  old  souldiers  inured  to  toil  and  labour,  whose 
miens  were  fierce  and  menacing ;  uncombed,  ill 
cloathed,  with  their  long  buff-coats  all  bespawled, 
over  their  coarse  threadbare  clothes,  having  no  other 
ornament  than  their  trusty  Bilbo  by  their  sides,  and 
sound  armour  on  their  breasts,  mounted  on  travelling 
horses  without  housses,  or  any  other  part  of  bravery 
besides  the  horsemen  on  their  backs  ;  in  fine,  the 
army  of  another  Alexander  in  opposition  to  that  of 
another  Darius." 

During  the  early  part  of  the  night  of  the  19th  of 
October,  Navarre,  profiting  by  liis  command  of  the 
river  Doune,  transported  half  his  forces  to  its  oppo- 
site bank  ;  but  having  received  certain  information 
that  Joyeuse  intended  to  attack  him  at  dawn,  he 
abandoned  his  design  of  retreat,  and  once  again  con- 
^  centrated  his  whole  force  near  Coutras. 
'^''  *■  ■  The  military  reader  of  the  present  times 
will  loam  with  surprise  that  the  entire  park  of  Hu- 
guenot field  artillery  was  comprised  in  three  pieces 
of  cannon  ;*  and  that  to  the  skill  with  which  this 


Sully,  Mem.  torn,  i,  liv.  ii.  p.  193. 


A.  D.  1587.]     BATTLE  OF  COUTRAS.         189 

inconsiderable  battery  wgis  disposed,  much  of  the 
success  of  the  day  is  to  be  attributed.  A  remarkable 
instance  of  Henry's  knowledge  of  the  human  heart 
(the  whole  tenor  of  his  past  and  future  life  forbids 
us  from  supposing  that  he  intended  to  discipline  his 
own)  is  said  to  have  been  exhibited  on  the  eve  of 
this  battle.  Du  Plessis  and  the  minister  Roche 
Ch?indieu  earnestly  remonstrated  with  the  king, 
upon  the  great  scandal  occasioned  by  the  dishonour 
in  which  he  had  involved  the  daughter  of  a  magis- 
trate of  La  Rochelle  ;  and  warned  him  that  the 
favour  of  Heaven  was  little  to  be  expected  by  an 
imrepentant  sinner.  The  king  listened  meekly  to 
this  rebuke ;  performed  an  immediate  penance  in 
the  church  at  Pons  ;  offered  all  the  reparation  which 
he  could  afford  to  the  lady  whom  he  had  wronged  ; 
and  engaged  that,  if  he  survived  the  fight,  he  would 
undergo  such  further  open  penance  as  the  church 
might  think  fit  to  adjudge.* 

Whatever  might  be  the  sincerity  with  which 
Henry  bowed  to  this  spiritual  censure,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  the  ardent  spirit  of  devotion  which  ani- 
mated his  followers.  No  sooner  were  the  Hugue- 
nots arrayed  in  line,  than  they  raised  with  one  voice 
the  118th  Psalm,  and  then  knelt  at  the  recital  of  a 
short  prayer.  The  minister  D'Amours,  by  whom  it 
was  delivered,  drew  his  sword  at  the  conclusion,  and 
mingled  with  the  leading  combatants,  with  his  head 
wholly  uncovered  and  wearing  no  other  defensive 
armour  than  a  corslet.  The  attitude  of  prayer  was 
mistaken  by  some  of  the  younger  cavaliers  among 
the  Royalists,  who  exclaimed  with  delight,  and  loud 
enough  to  be   heard,  "  'Sdeath,  they  tremble !  the 

*  The  penance  was  submitted  to  en  fa  face  de  tim'?  la  Noblesse  deson 
annee.  Hist,  de  la  vie  de  Mrssire  I'hilippes  de  Momay,  liv.  i.  p.  108. 
Elr..  1647.  The  incident  is  dramatized  by  Pcreflxe,  as  occurring  in  the 
front  of  the  line,  cnmme  Ics  escndrnns  estnicnt  prcsts  d'allei-  a  la  charge, 
p.  86.  It  is  not  mentioned  by  De  Thou,  nor  by  Sully,  nor  by  D'.^ubignS, 
nnr  by  Mad.  Du  Plessis  in  her  Miinoires  of  her  husband,  nor  by  Du 
Plessis  himself  in  his  detailed  accoijnt  of  the  battle,  tgiji.  iii  p.  536. 


190  BATTLE    OF    COUTRAS.  [CH.  XV. 

cowards  are  at  confession  !"  A  veteran  officer, 
better  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the  Reformed 
than  were  his  comrades,  turned  to  Joyeuse,  and 
assured  him  that  after  the  Huguenots  had  been  so 
employed,  they  might  be  expected  to  fight  with 
desperation.* 

The  action  commenced  by  murderous  discharges 
from  the  Huguenot  artillery,  sweeping  away  from 
twelve  to  five-and-twenty  file  at  every  volley. f 
That  of  the  Royalists  was  ill  posted  and  unskilfully 
served ;  and  the  bullets  for  the  most  part  fell  short 
of  their  mark,  intercepted  by  some  rising  ground. 
In  order  to  avoid  the  destructive  fire  of  his  oppo- 
nents, Joyeuse  ordered  a  charge,  which  he  led  in 
person;  and  which,  from  its  impetuosity,  for  awhile 
occasioned  some  confusion  in  the  Huguenot  ranks. 
The  battle  then  became  general,  and  almost  every 
chief  fought  hand  to  hand ;  the  King  of  Navarre, 
pressed  by  a  foe  on  either  side,  discharged  his  pistol 
at  one,  and  seizing  the  other  by  the  throat,  shouted, 
"  Yield  thee,  Philistine."  Turenne  was  unhorsed ; 
the  Count  de  Soissons,  a  half-brother  of  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  who  had  recently  abandoned  the  Romish 
profession  and  joined  the  banner  of  the  Reformed, 
fought  "  as  if  he  had  never  known  any  other  em- 

*  All  the  above  particulars  may  be  found  in  D'Aublgn6,  Hist.  Vniv. 
torn.  iii.  liv.  i.  c.  14.  He  describes  D'.-\mours  as  "  Ministre  et  ge-ntiUiomme 

qui  avec  la  teste  et  les  bras  desarmez  avoit  mesle  aux  premiers, 

et  tir^  I'esppe  en  aclievant  la  priere."  When  the  Huguenots  knelt,  plu- 
sieursCatholuiuesde  la  Cornelte  blanche  crierent  assez  haut  poursefaire 
entendre,  •'  Par  la  mord,  ils  trembleiu  Ics  poltrons  !  ils  se  confessent  I" 
Vaux,  Lieutenant  de  Bellegarde,  qui  avoit  plus  souvent  frott6  ses  genoux 
avec  ces  gens-Ia  que  ses  compagnons,  et  qui  seul  ralie  au  combat,  dit  au 
Due,  "  Monsieur,  quand  les  Huguenots  font  celte  mine  ils  sont  prest  de 
se  bien  battre."  Matthieu  and  Pierre  de  I'Estoile  ascribe  this  observa- 
tion to  Lavardin. 

In  an  account  of  the  taking  of  Marans  in  1588,  we  are  told  that  some 
of  the  prisoners  informed  their  captors,  that  no  sooner  had  the  Hugue- 
nots been  seen  to  kneel  before  the  engagement,  than  a  cry  ran  through 
the  leaguers ;  "  lis  pryent  Dieu;  ils  nous  battront  comme  a  Coutras." 
UuPlessis,  torn.  iv.  p.  214. 

T  Sully,  torn.  i.  liv.  ii,  p.  193.  Septies  displosionerepetitd.  De  Thou, 
Ixxxvii.  6. 


A.  D.  1587.]  DEATH  OF  THE  DUKE  DE  JOYEUSE.  191 

ployment."*  Scarcely  an  hour  had  elapsed  when 
the  royaUsts  gave  way  on  all  sides  ;  and  Joyeuse 
perceiving  that  defeat  was  certain,  resolved  not  to 
survive  his  dishonour.  To  St.  Luc,  the  single 
officer  who  remained  by  him,  and  who  asked 
"  What  is  to  be  done  now  V  he  answered,  "  To  die  !" 
and  in  a  few  moments  afterward,  having  been  taken 
prisoner,  he  w^as  deliberately  shot  by  a  Huguenot 
captain,  either  in  a  dispute  concerning  his  ransom, 
or  in  reprisal  for  some  cruelties  which  he  had  com- 
mitted in  the  early  part  of  the  campaign.!  St.  Luc 
owed  his  escape  to  an  act  of  remarkable  daring. 
Observing  the  Prince  of  Conde  actively  engaged 
in  pursuit,  he  couched  his  lance,  and,  galloping  till 
he  struck  full  on  his  breastplate,  overthrew  him  by 
the  blow.  Then  springing  from  his  horse,  he  as- 
sisted his  fallen  enemy  to  rise,  and  tendering  his 
gauntlet  with  respect,  acknowledged  himself  his 
prisoner. I  The  gallantry  displayed  in  each  of  these 
knightly  acts  secured  the  praise  and  the  leniency  of 
the  prince  to  whom  he  surrendered. 

The  victory  was  complete  ;  arms,  standards,  bag- 
gage, and  artillery  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
conqueror.  More  than  400  royalists  of  honourable 
birth,  and  3000  soldiers  were  left  dead  on  the  field  ; 
and  this  great  success  was  purchased  by  the  trifling 
loss  of  five  Huguenot  gentlemen  and  twenty  men  at 
arms."^  Every  narrative  of  this  battle  which  we 
have  read  teems  with  cliivalrous  anecdotes  of  Henry. 
When  about  to  make  his  first  charge,  he  addressed 
himself  to  Conde  and  Soissons,  reminding  them  that 


*  Monseignrnr  le  Comtc  de  Soissons  sanbloit  rCvoiT  faut  aultre 
chose.     Du  Plessis,  Bataille  de  Coiitras,  ifec.  toin.  iii.  cxiii.  p.  545. 

t  Perhaps  because  he  was  known  to  have  forbidden  quarter  before 
this  engagement,  even  if  it  were  to  the  king  of  Navarre  himself.  D' Au- 
bign6,  lit  sup. 

t  D'Auhigne,  ut  sup. 

^  U'Aubigntr,  ut  supra.  One  of  the  prisoners  remarked  to  his  captor, 
vous  n'avez  nen  fait  pour  vous,  car  vous  avez  irritc  le  Roy.  The  Hugue- 
not in  reply,  prid  Dteu  qu'ils  le  pcussent  souvcnt  irnter  de  cetle  /aeon. 


192  MODERATION  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.  [cH.  XV. 

they  all  three  were  Bourbons,  and  that  he  would 
that  day  prove  himself  the  eldest.*  During  the 
pursuit,  it  was  reported  to  him  that  the  fugitives 
were  halting,  and  afterward  that  they  were  again 
advanchig  to  the  field  supported  by  the  expected 
junction  of  that  reinforcement  which  was  known  to 
be  on  its  march.  "  On,  my  friends,"  was  his  an- 
swer, "  two  battles  in  one  day  will  be  a  novelty  !"f 
But  his  moderation,  after  his  triumph,  was  equally 
conspicuous,  and  yet  more  glorious  than  even  the 
valour  and  self-possession  by  which  victory  had  been 
obtained.  He  joined  in  thanksgiving  on  the  field, 
v^ith  D'Amours,  who  resumed  his  ministerial  func- 
tions unhurt ;  he  secured  honourable  treatment  to 
the  remains  of  Joyeuse  and  of  his  brother,  St. 
Sauveur,  who  had  fallen  together  with  him  ;  he 
exerted  himself  to  stop  the  carnage ;  he  received 
his  prisoners  with  distinguished  courtesy,  and  re- 
leased many  of  them  without  ransom.  To  one 
who  asked  what  conditions  he  Would  now  demand 
after  a  success  so  splendid?  he  replied  unhesitat- 
ingly, "  Just  the  same  as  I  would  have  accepted 
after  a  defeat, — a  renewal  of  the  edict  of  Poitiers  ;"J 
and  in  conformity  with  this  declaration,  he  des- 
{)atched  a  courier  to  the  king,  with  a  letter  expres- 
sive of  his  dutiful  obedience,  of  his  desire  for  peace^ 
and  of  his  bitter  regret  for  the  miserable  effusion  of 
blood  of  which  self-defence  had  compelled  him  to  be 
the  Unwilling  instrument. § 

*  Perefixe,  p.  84.  f  Id.  p.  85. 

+  D'Aubign^,  vt  sup. 

^  Du  Plessis,  Bataile  de  Coutras,  tom.  iii.  cxiii.  p.  548.    Remoii' 
ttrwtce  a  la  France,  tom.  iv.  p.  2S 


A.  D.  1587.]    INACTION  AFTER  THE  BATTLE.  193 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Cannes  of  inaction  aflcrthe  BaltleofCoutras— Disastrous  Retreat  of  the 
Auxiliaries — Increased  power  of  tiie  League— Death  of  Conde — Origin 
and  character  of  the  Seize — Guise  enters  Paris  notwithstanding  the 
King's  Prohibition — The  Barricades— Flight  of  the  King — Firmness  of 
Sir  I'dward  Stafford- Kdict  of  Reunion — (Juise  Lieutenant-general — 
lid  States-General  at  Blois — Assassination  of  the  Guises — Death  of 
Catherine  de  iMedicis--Fury  of  the  Parisians— The  Sorbonne  renounces 
Allegiance — Absurd  Charges  of  Sorcery  againsi  Henry  IIF. — Progress 
of  Rebellion — The  Duke  of  Mayenne  nominated  Lieutenant-general  of 
fhe  Stale  and  Crown  of  France— Conduct  of  the  Huguenots — Treaty 
between  the  two  Kings — ^Their  Interview  at  Plessis-le;z- Tours. 

However  brilliant  v/as  the  success  which  attendetj 
the  King  of  Navarre's  arms  at  Coutras,  the  force  by 
which  he  achievetJ  it  was  so  constituted  as  to  pre- 
vent him  from  reaping  substantial  benefit  from  his 
victory.  To  penetrate  at  once  into  the  Nivernois, 
and  thus  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  German  auxil- 
iaries on  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  was  the  movement 
which  obviously  afforded  the  greatest  prospect  of 
future  advantage.  But,  even  if  we  attribute  less 
weight  than  has  sometimes  been  assigned  to  the 
motives  of  personal  ambition  by  which  the  leading 
Huguenots  were  said  to  be  actuated,*  enough  is  to 
be  found  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  army 
itself  to  account  for  its  inactiork  Of  the  troops 
which  had  been  hastily  levied  in  Saintonge,  Poitou, 
and  Angoumois,  few  were  provided  with  equipments 
sufficient  for  more  than  the  inmiediate  combat  in 
which  they  had  been  present ;  the  Gascons  and  the 
other  more  distant  provincials  had  left  their  homes 
•without  arrangement  for  their  protection ;  many  of 

*  Sully,  at  the  commencement  of  his  Hid  Book,  attributes  to  Cond^, 
Soissons,  and  Turenne,  a  design  of  appropriating  to  themselves  certa*/* 
provinces  dismembered  from  Fran«e, 

Vol.  II.— R 


194   DISPERSION  OF  THE  HtGUENOT  ARMY.  [cH.  XV. 

the  conquerors  had  lost  their  entire  baggage  ;  many 
others  (an  occurrence  more  fatal  to  discipline)  were 
overcharged  with  booty.  It  became  necessarj% 
therefore,  to  suspend  immediate  operations,  to  keep 
together  as  many  regiments  as  were  qualified  to  oc- 
cupy the  field,  and  to  allow  a  short  period  of  furlough 
previously  to  the  reorganization  of  the  main  army  ;* 
Turenne  was  left  in  chief  command  in  Perigord, 
where  a  general  rendezvous  was  to  take  place  be- 
fore the  close  of  November ;  and  the  king  of  Na- 
varre, too  readily  abandoning  himself  to  his  beset- 
ting weakness,  withdrew  from  his  scene  of  recent 
glory  to  offer  his  hard-won  trophies  at  the  feet  of  a 
mistress  in  Bearne. 

Not  all  the  evil,  however,  which  ensued  during 
the  remainder  of  this  campaign,  must  be  charged 
upon  the  unseasonable  dispersion  of  the  Huguenots. 
The  foreign  troops,  inadequately  commanded  and 
badly  disciplined,  after  quitting  the  line  of  march 
originally  projected  for  their  advance,!  entangled 
themselves  without  guides  in  countries  with  which 
they  were  imperfectly  acquainted.  So  ill  were  their 
precautions  taken,  that  they  were  twice  surprised 
and  defeated  with  great  slaughter  by  Guise. |  Before 
they  regained  the  frontiers  in  their  disastrous  retreat, 
famine,  disease,  the  sword,  and  the  fury  of  the  pea- 
santry had  destroyed  one-half  of  the  Germans  ;  and 
12,000  Swiss  having  obtained  a  capitulation  and 
received  a  considerable  payment,  altogether  aban- 
doned the  cause  in  which  they  had  engaged.  The 
dissipation  of  this  great  armament,  whose  invasion 
had  occasioned  very  reasonable  alarm,  was  a  source 
of  undeserved  temporary  popularity  to  the  king, 

*  Thesp  reasons  are  ofien  ropeateii  by  Pit  PIcssis,  and  always  with  f.n 
idfinlity  of  siiitrmeiit  which  carries  wiih  it  sirong  evidence  of  truth.  See 
torn.  iv.  p.  37.  :W.  i:!'.2. 

t  Oil  I'icwisi,  torn.  iv.  p.  1,33. 

X  At  Villu  Mory  on  Oct.  29,  at  Aunean,  Nov.  24.  Both  these  engage- 
rncnts  are  relaipd  by  Pasquier,  liv.  xi.  P.p.  xv.  See  also  Du  Flessis, 
loiii.  iv,  p.  82,  94, 


A.  D.  1587.]  NEGOTIATION  WITH  ENGLAND.     195 

who  in  his  heart  sincerely  lamented  its  overthrow. 
Nevertheless,  on  his  return  to  Paris,  which  he  en- 
tered with  a  show  of  triumphal  pomp,  he  was  hailed 
by  the  rabble  witli  enthusiastic  acclamations  ;  and  as 
he  dismounted  at  Notre  Dame,  booted  and  spurred, 
to  offer  a  thanksgiving  before  th&  altar,  the  streets 
echoed  with  long-forgotten  shouts  of  Vive  le  Roy* 
The  clergy,  indeed,  were  not  forgetful  of  the  supe- 
rior claims  of  Guise,  and  the  royal  ears  were 
speedily  offended  by  hearing  from  every  pulpit  that 
if  Saul  had  slain  his  thousands,  tens  of  thousands 
had  fallen  beneath  David. f  Still  farther  to  weaken 
the  king's  hold  on  this  short-lived  popularity,  his 
conduct  in  the  recent  campaign  was  assailed  through 
that  of  his  favourite ;  and  pamphlets  were  hawked 
about  the  capital,  in  which,  after  the  expectations 
of  the  purchaser  had  been  raised  by  an  inflated 
title,  promising  a  full  description  of  the  magnificent 
gests  of  the  Duke  of  Epernonin  the  war  against  the 
heretics,  the  eye  rested  upon  nothing  more  than 
some  sheets  of  blank  paper.J 

The  King  of  Navarre,  under  his  disappointment, 
looked  anxiously  to  England  for  support ;  and  the 
high  value  which  he  placed  upon  the  good  opinion 
of  Elizabeth  is  attested  by  the  earnestness  with 
wliich  he  apologized  to  her  for  his  recent  miscar- 
riages. We  find  letters  addressed  to  Walsingham,^ 
to  Leicester,!!  and  to  Burleigh,T[  in  each  of  which 
much  labour  is  expended  to  exculpate  the  Hugue- 
not leaders,  and  to  impute  every  calamity  which 

*  Pasquier,  ibid. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  UI.  torn.  ii.  p.  33. 

*  i,M  hauls /ails,  testes  rt  vaillancrs  de  M.  d'Espernon  en  son  voyase 
en  Provence.  Ilr»nlAiiir>  Disc,  l.xxix.  12.  toni.  vii.  p.  443.  De  Thoupives 
a  similar  account,  with  a  slight  variation,  lx.xxvii.  15.  He  nieniions  also 
that  perverse  ingenuity  discovered  that  ."Vo^uarcslus,  the  l.atin  name  of 
Epernon.  might  be  anaarammatized  into  Gaverstonus :  and  a  parallel 
was  directly  in.stituted  between  the  English  and  French  minions,    xc.  13. 

6  Du  I'lossis,  torn.  iv.  p.  167. 
Jl  Id.  ibid.  p.  182. 
V  Id.  ibid.  p.  18L 


196  PRODIGIES,  [CH.  XVI. 

had  occurred  to  the  treachery  of  the  Swiss  and  the 
insubordination  of  the  Germans.  The  instructions 
to  the  special  envoy  employed  upon  this  mission 
are  framed  in  a  similar  tone ;  and  it  is  deeply  im- 
pressed upon  him  that  he  is  to  omit  no  pains  to 
remove  any  unfavourable  prejudices  which  may 
have  induced  the  queen  to  beheve  that  there  has 
been  a  want  of  diligence  on  the  part  of  the  King  of 
Navarre.* 

The  approach  of  the  year  1588  had  been 
long  regarded  with  superstitious  terror  by 
all  Europe.!  The  weak,  the  curious,  and  the  credu- 
lous, influenced  by  one  of  those  fever  fits  of  imagi- 
nation which  appear  to  recur  periodically,  distorted 
the  prophecies  by  fanciful  accommodations,  and 
proclaimed  the  coming  of  the  final  judgment.  By 
the  astrologers  it  was  forenamed  The  Year  of  Mar- 
vels, and  the  Grand  Clunacleric  of  the  World ;%  and 
even  a  graver  authority,  wjien  looking  back  upon ' 
the  political  convulsions  by  which  France  was  agi- 
tated during  its  course,  persuaded  himself  that  those 
troublous  events  were  in  reality  ushered  in  by  pro- 
digies. "  "What  else,  unless  prognostics  of  impend- 
ing evil,"  says  the  otherwise  judicious  Perefixe, 
"  can  we  esteem  the  earthquake  by  which  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Loire  and  all  Normandy  was  riven ;  the 
six  weeks'  succession  of  tempests  which  agitated 
our  seas ;  the  numberless  meteors  which  blazed  in 

^     *  Du  Plessis,  torn.  iv.  p,  1Q4. 

t  The  opinion  concerning  the  fatality  of  the  year  1598,  was  not  iess 
prevalent  in  Knslami  llian  on  the  Continent.  Mr.  Faunt,  writing  from 
London  so  long  betbrchand  as  June  13,  ISsti,  notices  "the  many  strange 
accidents  which  give  no  small  credit  to  the  old  prophecy  of  the  approacti- 
ing  year  1588."     Birch,  Memoirs  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  vol.  i.  p.  52. 

t  Qiiem  Regiomontanns  Asfronomvs,  ante  secii/vm,  Annnin  fore 
mirabilem,  et  Germani  Astrologi  Mundi  Climactericum  prredixcrvnt. 
Camden,  Annal.  F.liz.  Pars  iii.  ad  init.  ann.  Ue  Thou  calls  the  reign 
of  Henry  III.  the  Climacteric  of  France.  "Utin  vitA  singulornm  hoini- 
num  annum  Ixiii.  climartcricwn  esse  «c  fere  lethalem.  sic  ciim  a  Vara- 
itiundo,  a  quo  sericm  Rcgum  nostrorum  I'alru  Annales  repetunt.  ad 
Henricum  III.  Ixiii.  Regcs  nunierentur,  videri  Regem  hunc  Regtia 
Fr^ncico  fatalem  et  uUimum  ex  eel  faniili^  fore."  xoiv.  13, 


A.  D.  1588.]    ARTICLES  OF  NANCY.  197 

the  heavens ;  or  the  impenetrable  fog  which  so 
enveloped  Paris  as  to  make  torches  necessary  at 
midday  !"*  Without  assenting  to  the  connexion 
thus  sought  to  be  established  between  the  moral 
and  the  physical  Avorld,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  elements  in  both  of  them  exhibited  great  appa- 
rent sympathy  during  the  year  upon  which  we  are 
now  entering;  and  it  can  awaken  little  surprise  that 
the  coincidence  occasioned  much  remark. 

The  leaguers  early  evinced  their  consciousness 
of  the  increased  strength  which  they  had  derived 
from  the  overthrow  of  the  German  army ;  and  the 
Guise  faction,  assembled  at  Nancy,  proposed  to  the 
king  a  series  of  articles,  which,  if  accepted,  would 
have  deprived  him  of  even  his  remaining  shadow  of 
authority.  He  was  required  to  annex  hniiself  to 
the  league  more  openly  and  in  good  earnest,  re- 
moving from  his  presence,  and  from  their  posts  and 
offices,  certain  persons  hereafter  to  be  named ;  to 
proclaim  the  reception  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
throughout  all  his  dominions ;  to  establish  the  Holy 
Inquisition  in  his  principal  cities,  as  the  best  means 
of  disposing  of  hereticsf  and  suspicious  persons ; 
with  an  especial  provision  that  the  inquisitors 
should  be  foreigners,  or  at  least  that  they  should 
neither  be  born  nor  possess  any  connexions  in  the 
places  which  they  were  to  superintend  ;  to  commit 
to  the  chiefs  of  the  league  certain  important  towns 
which  they  might  fortify  and  garrison  ;  to  furnish 
subsidies  for  troops  to  be  maintained  as  a  barrier 
agaiust  invasion  in  Lorraine  ;  and  for  that  purpose, 
and  for  the  support  of  the  war,  to  sell  all  the  prop- 
erty of  heretics  and  their  associates,  without  any 

*  Perefixe,  p.  90.  De  Thou.  xc.  1,  whore  he  rivals  I.ivy  in  prodigies. 
The  gre.il  fog  on  Sunday,  Jan.  24,  15S8,  is  noticed  by  I'icrre  dc  I'l'stoile, 
who  says  the  court  yards  of  ihe  hoii.ses  ill  Paris  were  filled  with  wild 
geese  and  oiher  unconiiiioii  birds,  which  li.id  lost  their  way  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  were  stunned  hy  striking  themselves  against  tlie  walls  and 
chimneys.    Jmirnal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  ii.  p.  89. 

t  De  it  dt/atre. 

R2 


198  DEATH    AND    CHARACTER    OF         [CH.  XVI. 

demur,  for  as  much  as  it  would  produce  ;  during  the 
continuance  of  war  to  demand  a  contribution  of 
one-third,  or  of  at  least  one-fourth  of  their  property, 
from  all  persons,  of  every  rank  and  condition,  who 
may  have  been  reputed  heretics  at  any  time  since 
1560  ;  to  appropriate  the  sums  first  produced  by  the 
above  imposts  to  the  payment  of  the  debts  neces- 
sarily contracted  by  the  chiefs  of  the  league  ;  and 
to  reserve  the  surplus  in  the  hands  of  commis- 
sioners, to  be  employed  in  like  manner  hereafter, 
without  the  possibility  of  diversion  to  any  other 
purpose ;  and,  lastly,  to  refuse  quarter  to  every 
prisoner  taken  from  the  enemy,  unless  he  would 
solemnly  swear,  and  also  give  sufficient  surety,  to 
conform  to  the  Catholic  church.  If  his  property 
had  not  yet  been  sold,  he  was  to  be  compelled  to 
pay  its  full  value  in  ready  money  ;  if  otherwise,  he 
was  to  renounce  all  future  pretensions  to  it,  and  to 
engage  to  serve  without  pay  for  at  least  three  years, 
in  any  capacity  in  which  it  might  be  thought  fit  to 
employ  him.*  The  utter  helplessness  of  the  king 
cannot  be  more  strongly  depicted  than  by  adding 
that  he  did  not  venture  to  reject  or  even  to  modify 
these  conditions,  but  that  he  Avas  content  to  elude 
their  fulfilment  by  temporizing. f 

A  severe  blow  was  inflicted  on  the  Hu- 
'^^'^  '  guenots  early  in  this  spring,  by  the  sud- 
den death  of  the  Prince  of  Conde.  "  A  single  piece 
of  news,"  wrote  Du  Plessis  to  Turenne,  "  will  con- 
vey to  you  abundance  of  evil  tidings.  Monseigneur 
the  prince  is  dead,  and  as  it  is  believed  by  poison. 
On  Thursday  last,  he  amused  himself  by  running 
at  the  ring,  and  before  Saturday  night  he  had 
breathed  his  last. "J  The  body,  on  dissection,  ex- 
hibited unequivocal  marks  of  foul  play  :^  suspicion 

*  Mhnoires  de  la  Ligne,  tom.  ii.  p.  260.     D'Aubign^  Hist.  Univ.  torn, 
iii.  liv.  i.  c.  18.  p.  69.     Du  Plessis,  tom.  iv.  p.  168. 

t  De  Thou,  xo.  5.  1  Tom.  iv.  p.  185. 

$  Post  mortem  e.\amination,  in  the  Mim.  de  la  Ligne.  lorn.  ii.  p.  304. 


A.  D.   1588.]       THE    PRINCE    OF    CONDE.  199 

attached  to  two  domestics  who  had  absconded, 
and  a  third,  Brilhiud,  the  comptroller  of  the  prince's 
household,  who  was  proved  to  have  furnished  them 
with  horses  and  money,  was  arrested,  and  under- 
went the  horrible  punishment  apportioned  to  regi- 
cides. These  minor  instruments  were  not  the  only 
persons  whom  tlie  investigation  of  this  great  crime 
involved  in  judicial  processes.  Charlotte  Catherine 
de  la  Tremouille,  the  widow  and  second  wife  of  the 
late  prince,  was  accused  of  having  instigated  the 
murder  ;  and  the  commissioners  whom  the  King  of 
Navarre  appointed,  regardless  of  her  sex  and  station, 
and  exceeding  their  legitimate  authority,  condemned 
her  to  the  question.*  The  sentence  was  not  to  be 
executed  till  forty  days  had  elapsed  from  her  deliv- 
ery of  a  child  of  which  she  was  then  pregnant ;  and 
either  the  joy  occasioned  by  the  birth  of  a  male 
heir  to  the  House  of  Conde,  or  the  subsidence  of 
the  first  excitement  resulting  from  his  father's  mur- 
der, ultimately  saved  her  from  this  peril  and  indig- 
nity. During  six  years,  however,  she  continued  to 
languish  in  close  imprisonment ;  till  having  asserted 
her  claim,  as  a  princess  of  the  blood,  to  be  tried 
by  the  highest  court  in  the  realm,  her  cause  was 
evoked  to  the  Parliament  of  Paris.  The  brothers 
of  her  deceased  husband  persisted  in  their  former 
accusation,  but  the  princess  having  renounced  the 
Huguenot  faith,  and  consented  that  her  son  should 
be  educated  as  a  Romanist,  obtained  an  arret,  an- 
nulling all  the  proceedings  of  inferior  tribunals,  and 
registering  her  innocence  without  retrieving  her 
character. t 

*  "  Deeretum  est  ut  Tremollia  ipsa,  defuncti  uxor,  violentoe  qutestioni 
tsubjiciatur."     Ue  Thou,  xc.  T.   Var.  Led.  [}. 

t  The  prevalent  opinion  seems  disadvanlageous  to  this  unhappy  wo- 
man ;  unhappy  if  innocent,  immeasurably  more  so  if  guilty.  The  de- 
testable scandal  of  the  times  imputed  to  her  an  intrigue  with  Henry  IV. 
himseli'i Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn  ii.  p.  53,  note),  and  in  volume  iii.  of 
the  same  work  may  be  found  many  official  papers  illustrative  of  the 
process  against  her.    DeTliouhas  briefly  noticed  her  appeal  to  the  Pur- 


200  THE    PRINCE    OF    CONDE.  [cH.  XVI. 

Henry,  Prince  of  Conde,thus  prematurely  snatched 
away,  in  his  thirty-fifth  year,  inherited  many  of 
the  noble  qualities  which  are  almost  heir-looms  of  his 
name.  His  reputation  may  be  less  brilliant,  because, 
perhaps,  his  manners  were  less  captivating  than 
those  of  his  father ;  but  in  his  eventful,  although  brief 
career,  we  discover  numerous  traces  of  ardour,  of 
activity,  of  energy,  and  of  valour,  which  claim  for 
him  a  record  scarcely  less  illustrious  than  that  as- 
signed to  Louis  ;  and  a  constancy  of  purpose  which 
may  perhaps  entitle  him  to  rank  as  his  superior.  The 
King  of  Navarre,  although  not  untinged  with  secret 
jealousy  of  his  cousin,  bitterly  lamented  his  death  ; 
spoke  of  it  as  the  severing  of  his  right  arm  from  his 
body ;  and  pursued  his  suspected  murderers  with 
unremitting  zeal.*  The  Duke  of  Guise,  seldom 
deficient  in  generosit}^  shed  tears  when  he  learned 
the  disastrous  fate  of  his  enemy  ;  and  it  remained 
for  the  brutal  rabble  of  the  capital,  and  for  the 
bigoted  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  to  attribute  the  per- 
petration of  this  atrocious  crime  to  the  hand  of  God, 
The  form«r  joined  with  their  preachers  in  ascribing 
the  death  of  Conde  to  a  special  judgment  of  Provi- 
dence ;  the  latter,  when  he  carried  the  intelligence 
to  the  king,  prefaced  his  annouucement  by  observ- 
ing, "  You  perceive,  sire,  what  it  is  to  be  excom- 
municated."! 

The  news  of  Conde's  death  had  summoned  Guise 
to  Picardy,  in  order  to  strengthen  himself  in  that 
province  against  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  upon  whom 
the  king    had    bestowed   its  vacant    government. 


liamcnt,  cxii.  6.  Daniel  mentions  a  report,  to  which  he  says  no  credit 
was  altaclied,  that  the  priiicc'^s  doath  was  owing  to  the  bh)w  whicli  he 
received  wlieii  uiihorseil  liy  St.  I.uc  at  Coiitras,  loiii.  vi.  p.  157.  It  is  but 
just  to  add,  that  Madame  l)u  Plessis,  in  the  Mcmmres  of  her  hu.sbaiid, 
terms  tlie  process  iiif  qlTwre  perplcre  et  du  coniiiiniccincnt  ?nal  en/our- 
nre  (toiii.  i.  p.  104),  and  that  ilic  recent  editor  of  those  Mtmonex  speaks 
of  the  princess  as  injiistrimnt  acr.iisi'i-.  (Tom.  i.  p    1(52,  note.) 

^Perefi.ve,  p.  01.    Hu  Plessis.  toiii.  i.  p.  163. 

t  De  Thou,  .\v.  7.    Journal  de  Ilenn  III.  lorn.  ii.  p.  93. 


A.  D.   158S.]         CONSPIKACY    IN    PARI6.  201 

While  thus  employed,  he  received  intelligence  from 
Paris  which  called  him  to  yet  more  undisguised 
resistance  of  the  authority  of  the  crown  than  any 
upon  which  he  had  hitherto  ventured.  The  king 
still  hesitated  to  avow  his  final  determination  re- 
specting the  proposed  Articles  of  Nancy ;  and  well 
acquainted  with  the  progress  of  a  conspiracy  which 
had  been  long  maturing  in  the  caj)ital,  he  probably 
awaited  only  a  favourable  moment  to  spring  steal- 
thily upon  its  chiefs,  whom  he  possessed  neither 
strength  nor  courage  to  encounter  openly.  Paris, 
always  seditious  and  prepared  for  revolt,  during  the 
last  tliree  years  had  organized  from  the  sixteen 
Quartiers  into  which  it  was  then  divided,  an  insur- 
rectionary council  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Les  Seize,  not  on  account  of  its  own  numbers, 
which  continually  varied,*  but  of  that  of  its  con- 
stituents. 

The  materials  out  of  which  this  formidable  band 
was  constituted,  resembled  those  which  for  the 
most  part  appear  common  to  every  conspiracy. 
The  discontented,  the  desperate,  and  the  ambitious  ; 
the  blind,  the  busy,  and  the  turbulent ;  men  of  dis- 
appointed prospects  and  of  broken  fortunes — all 
whose  hopes  had  outgrown  their  means,  and  whose 
self-will  chafed  against  restraint ;  all  who  hated  sub- 
ordination and  were  jealous  of  superiority,  formed 
the  van  and  assumed  the  guidance.  With  these 
were  mingled  a  few  who  honestly  sought  the  reform 
of  an  oppressive  and  corrupt  government ;  and  a 
host  Avhom  vanity,  idleness,  misdirected  excite- 
ment, the  weakness  of  simplicity,  or  the  contagion 
of  numbers  allured  to  join  in  the  cry.  If  heat  were 
needed  to   ferment  this  mass,  it  was  supphed  in 

*  Sometimes,  however,  they  were  considered  to  be  really  sixteen. 
In  the  Satire  Menipp>e  they  are  noticed  by  the  cant  name  of  le  Cube 
quarre,  (p.  2.)  After  four  of  their  number  had  been  hanged  by  order  of 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  they  are  styled  the  Apostles  (p.  13.),  and  an  Epi- 
gram tells  us  (p.  202), 

De  Seize  Us  soni  rtduits  a  Dome, 


202  CONNEXION    BETWEEN    GUISE       [cH.  XVI. 

abundance  by  the  fanaticism  of  ecclesiastics ;  law- 
yers added  colouring  by  sophistry,  and  pungency  by 
declamation  ;  and  the  requisite  proportion  of  coarser 
strength  and  substance  was  contributed  by  associa- 
tion with  opulent  bourgeois. 

After  making  such  deductions  as  our  knowledge 
of  the  virulence  of  party  satire  demands,  the  leading 
characteristics  of  public  men  may  often  be  gathered 
most  truly  from  their  contemporary  sobriquets ; 
and  without  vouching  for  the  absolute  fidelity  of 
the  portraits,  we  may  feel  certain  that  caricatures 
afford  a  strong  resemblance  of  outline.  Thus  when 
in  reviewing  the  Sezze,  we  read  among  others  of 
Bruyere  the  Jaundiced,*  Bussy  the  Bully,  Louchart 
the  Rhodomontader,  Senault  the  would-be  Conjurer, 
Brouart  the  Smooth-tongued,  Alvequin  the  Phi- 
losopher, Tablier  the  Dreamer,  Messier  the  Babbler, 
Oudineau  the  Swindler,  and  INIorin  the  Coney- 
catcher,!  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognise  in  this 
catalogue  many  qualifications  which  frequently  ob- 
tain undue  ascendency  for  their  owners  during  sea- 
sons of  great  national  effervescence  ;  and  which  we 
may  therefore  reasonably  suppose  were  in  very 
truth  possessed  by  those  to  whom  they  are  at- 
tributed. 

The  connexion  between  Guise  and  this  Parisian 
faction  was  engendered  and  strengthened  by  their 
mutual  necessities.  The  rabble  chiefs  perceived 
the  advantage  which  they  must  derive  from  the 
sanction  of  an  illustrious  name,  long  popular  in  the 
capital ;  and  from  tlie  military  skill  of  the  distin- 
guished officers  deputed  to  co-operate  with  them  ; 
and  the  Lorrainers  knew  that  the  Seize,  whenever 
they  issued  their  summons,  could  array  20,000  men 
in  arms.     Hitherto,   however,  every  rising   which 

*  "  Le  Sire  safrannier  de  la  Ligue."  The  pleasantry  is  untranslate- 
sjjie:  the  I'reiich  say  of  a  bankrupt,  "ijii'il  est  nUi  au  safran." 

t  "  Dialogue  il'cnire  Ic  Maheusire  et  Ic  Manant.  Freuves  de  la  Satjrs 
JMen'PP<ie,"  lom.  iii,  p,  465. 


A.  D.  1568.]  AND    THE    SEIZE.  203 

had  been  projected  with  the  object  of  securing  the 
king's  person,  of  massacring  his  favourites,  and 
ultimately,  no  doubt,  of  overthrowing  his  govern- 
ment, had  been  frustrated  at  the  very  eve  of  its 
occurrence,  by  some  hidden  means  which  the  con- 
spirators were  unable  to  develop.  Their  intentions, 
indeed,  had  been  invariably  betrayed  by  one  who 
represented  himself  to  the  king's  party  as  an  unwil- 
ling participator  in  treason  ;  and  the  court,  thus 
forewarned,  had  always  applied  a  timely  preventive, 
without  encountering  the  necessity  of  forcible  and 
very  dangerous  collision. 

The  revelations  of  an  informer  and  an  accomplice 
must  always  be  received  with  caution ;  yet  the 
general  statement  contained  in  the  Proces  Verbal  of 
Nicolas  Poulain,*  who  revealed  the  designs  of  the 
Seize,  are  sufficiently  corroborated  by  actual  events 
to  entitle  them  to  the  credit  of  authenticity.  Warned 
by  this  agent  that  a  new  attempt  was  in 
contemplation,  the  king  assembled  4000  ^P"'^*- 
Swiss  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris  as  a  reinforcement  to 
his  ordinary  body-guard,  and  ostentatiously  trans- 
ported large  convoys  of  arms  from  the  arsenal  to 
the  Louvre.  The  fears  of  the  Seize  were  painfully 
awakened  by  this  unusual  display  of  preparation ; 
and  apprehensive  of  full  discovery  and  of  conse- 
quent punishment,  they  despatched  repeated  mes- 
sengers to  Guise,  urging  his  hiunediate  presence  in 
the  capital  as  their  only  chance  of  safety.  If,  dur- 
ing this  interval,  Henry  had  profited  by  the  alarm 
which  his  demonstrations  of  vigour  had  inspired,  it 
is  probable  that  he  might  have  crushed  the  faction 
at  a  blow  ;  but,  infirm  in  his  own  purpose,  and  be- 
trayed by  his  nearest  counsellors,  instead  of  at  once 
arresting  the  ringleaders  of  the  conspiracy,  he  con- 

*  Proems  Verbal  de  Nicolas  Poulain,  TAaitevnnt  de  la  PrevSte  de  Plsle 
dc  France,  qui  contirnt  rhi^tnire  dt  In  Lmuc  dcpui^  le  2  Janvier.  I589« 
jftisquts  au  Jour,  dc.i  Barricades  le  12  May,  15S8.  Printed  in  th« 
Journal  de  Henri  lU.  lorn.  li.  p.  Wi. 


204  GUISE    ENTERS    PARIS.  [cH.  Xtl. 

tented  himself  by  forbidding  Guise  from  entering 
Paris.  The  secretary  whom  he  despatched  with 
this  prohibition  was  without  full  instructions,  and 
executed  his  verbal  commission  but  feebly  and  in- 
adequately ;  the  written  orders  next  forwarded  were 
sent  by  the  ordinary  post,  instead  of  an  especial 
courier,  because  the  royal  treasurer  refused  to  ad- 
vance the  twenty-five  crowns  necessary  for  the 
expenses  of  the  latter.*  Guise  accordingly  denied 
the  receipt  of  the  despatch,  which  perhaps  in  truth 
might  never  have  been  delivered. 

Undeterred  by  these  royal  commands,  and  per- 
haps deriving  as  much  confidence  from  his  know' 
ledge  of  the  king's  imbecility  as  from  that  of  hi& 
own  strength.  Guise  fearlessly  entered 
Way  9.  pj^j.jg  a^(;  noon-day,  with  a  retinue  of  only 
eight  attendants.  His  reception  almost  justified 
this  immeasurable  boldness.  As  he  rode  through 
the  streets,  unnumbered  throngs  poured  forth  from 
their  houses  to  accompany  his  progress ;  blessings 
from  every  lip  pursued  his  steps ;  and  he  was 
greeted  by  incessant  shouts  of  "  Long  life  to  Guise, 
the  bulwark  of  our  religion,  the  pillar  of  our  faith  !"t 
Twice  was  he  admitted  to  the  royal  presence,  and 
twice,  after  much  idle  and  unkingly  expostulation, 
did  the  weak  prince  permit  the  rebellious  subject 
who  thus  braved  him  in  his  very  palace,  to  with- 
draw unimpeded  and  in  safety. 

On  the  third  morning,  Henry  prepared  for 
more  active  measures,  and  disposed  troops  in 
several  wards  of  the  city,  with  the  intention  of 
seizing  and  punishing  the  chief  propagators  of 
sedition.     But  the  favourable  moment  had  passed 

*  Maltliieu  Hist,  de  France,  torn.  i.  liv.  viii.  p.  544. 
t  Vive  Henri,  vive  Gtcise, 
Vtve  te  PtUicr  de  VEglise  ' 
Doggrel  supposed  to  have  been  written  after  his  victory  over  the  Reistres 
al  Auneau.     l)'Aubign6  Hist.   Univ.  torn.  iii.  liv.  i.  c.  23.   Journal  de 
Henri  III.  torn.  ii.  p  C5.    The  entrance  of  Guise  to  Paris  is  very  finely 
*83cribed  by  Davila,  ix.  torn.  i.  p.  633. 


A.  D.   1588.]  THE  BARRICADES.  205 

away  ;  the  Seize  had  recovered  from  their  first 
panic,  and  the  alarm  with  which  they  now  took 
pains  to  imbue  their  fellow-citizens,  was  calculated 
not  to  diminish  their  nerve,  but  to  awaken  their 
fury."*  Lists  of  the  proscribed  were  dihgently  cir- 
culated, in  which  the  chief  Romanists,  commencing 
with  Guise  himself,  were  marked  for  the  executioner; 
and  when  the  drums  beat,  and  the  Swiss  took  their 
station  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  May, 
the  populace  anticipated  the  horrors  of  an  ^y-'^. 
indiscriminate  massacre.  The  shops  were  instantly 
closed  ;t  the  bourgeois  ran  to  arms  ;  and  in  the  face 
of  the  royal  troops  (who,  not  having  received  orders 
•to  act,  passively  regarded  their  operations),  closed 
every  street  by  a  hasty,  but  effectual  barricade, 
chiefly  formed  of  barrels  filled  with  earth,  and  piled 
upon  each  other.  By  these  ramparts  (if  we  may  so 
call  them),  and  by  chains  drawn  across  the  thorougli- 
fares,  at  the  distance  of  about  fifty  paces  from  each 
other,  in  the  short  course  of  two  hours,  the  separate 
royalist  battalions  were  entirely  deprived  of  com- 
munication with  their  comrades,  and  blockaded  with- 
out means  of  retreat.  The  windows  of  the  houses 
which  commanded  their  several  posts  were  occupied 
by  the  inhabitants  armed  with  muskets  ;  the  barri- 
cades were  advanced  within  fifty  paces  of  the  palace  ; 
and  the  Marechal  liiron,  who  had  been  despatched 
from  it  to  reconnoitre,  reported  to  the  king,  that  if 
force  were  attempted,  he  would  have  as  many  cita- 
dels to  storm  as  there  were  streets  in  Paris ;  and 
that  if  he  were  at  the  h«ad  of  even  50,000  men,  all  of 
them  must  be  cut  to  pieces  in  traversing  the  narrow 
distance  between  the  Louvre  and  the  Pont  au 
Change."* 

*  "  Atioiiitos  antea,  nunc  ejus  adventu  confirmatos  ad  exlrema 
tontanda."    I>e  Thou  xi^^.  10. 

t  The  Swiss  eniered  the  city  an  hour  before  dayhreak ;  and  Davila 
Tery  precisely  explains  that  the  shops  were  already  opened,  in  conformity 
■with  the  early  liabiLs  of  the  Parisians.  "  Chiudendo  I'entrate  delle 
noiteghe,  che  conl'orine  all'  uso  della  citta  di  lavorar  e  innaau  giomo,  gia 
•'eniio  tominciate  d'aprire,"  ix.  torn.  i.  p.  541. 

t  "  Histoire  tres  veritable  de  co  qtii  est  advenu  er»  ceste  villa  de  Pari* 

Voi>.  U.— S 


206  THE    BARRICADES,  [CH.XVI. 

During  many  hours,  the  populace,  without  at- 
tempting violence,  sternly  regarded  the  soldiery, 
who  remained  motionless  on  their  posts  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  the  afternoon,  that  a  shot  fired,  perhaps 
accidentally,  by  a  royalist,  gave  the  signal  for  attack. 
As  the  Swiss  attempted  to  withdraw  from  the  Marche 
Neuf,  they  were  ordered  by  the  mob  to  extinguish 
their  matches ;  and  on  their  refusal,  the  street  in 
a  moment  was  covered  with  dead.  "  It  was  a  pite- 
ous sight,"  says  a  leaguer  who  witnessed  the  mas- 
sacre, "  to  behold  the  Swiss  throwing  down  their 
arms,  falling  one  over  another,  pursued  on  all  sides, 
whelmed  by  volleys  of  stones  which  the  women 
showered  from  the  windows,  and  calling  out  in  im- 
ploring tones,  France  !  France  !  We  also  are  Chris- 
tians !"  But  their  cries  for  mercy  were  drowned  by 
louder  shouts  of"  Kill,  kill  !"* 

The  early  part  of  the  day  had  been  passed  by  Guise 
in  his  own  house,  the  present  Hotel  de  Soubise  ;  in 
the  street  before  which,  De  Thou,  attracted  by  curi- 
osity, saw  him  walking  with  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons. 
He  was  busied  in  issuing  orders,  and  in  listening  to 
reports  of  the  progress  of  events  in  different  parts  of 
the  city ;  and  although  his  demeanour  was  not  alto- 
gether free  from  anxiety,  the  historian  assures  us 
that  his  countenance  vv'ore  an  air  of  serenity,  be- 
speaking full  confidence  of  success. f  About  five  in 
the  evening,  having:  received  a  message  from  the 
king,  entreatinsT  him  to  prevent  the  continuance  of 
bloodshed,  he  showed  himself  among  the  barricades, 
unarmed  ;  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  permission  for 

dejiuis  le  7  May,  1588.  jusijiies  au  dernier  jour  tie  Juiii  eiisuyvant  audit 
an,"  )(.  49.  This  Iraci,  oriiiinally  published  in  15SS,  is  reprinted  among 
the  Preinex  de  In  Snfyrr  Mntipprr,  toin.  iii.  )).  39. 

•  Id.  p.  58.     About  ifiUyorihe  Swiss  were  killed. 

I  De  Thou,  de  Vitii  Siiti,  lib.  iii.  torn.  vi.  p.  81.  Id.  Hist.  xc.  10. 
Davila  also  lias  >;iven  an  aicnuiit  of  an  interview,  early  on  the  same 
morninp,  between  his  brother  I.uigi,  who  was  sent  by  Catherine,  under 
pretext  of  a  coinplinjcnlary  niessacc,  to  (Jnisc.  The  duke,  who  under- 
Blood  the  object  or  the  visit,  e.xhibiieri  his  house  to  the  agent,  who 
describes  it  to  bave  been  full  of  arms  and  armed  men,  ix.  tom,  v.  p.  S4I. 


A.  D.   1588.]    THE  KING  FLIES  FROM  PARIS,  207 

the  surviving  troops  to  witlidraw  without  molesta- 
tion. Slowly,  bareheaded,  and  with  their  arms  re- 
versed,* they  were  conducted  beyond  the  walls ;  and 
before  evening  closed  Guise  remained  undisputed 
master  of  Paris. f 

The  night  was  passed  in  alarm,  but  without  actual 
tumult ;  each  householder  being  compelled  to  place 
lights  in  his  windows,  and  the  people  remaining 
under  arms.  On  the  morrow,  the  king 
was  advised  that  his  person  could  no  longer  *^  ' 
be  considered  safe  if  he  continued  in  the  Louvre  : 
that  tlie  leaguers  avowed  their  intention  of  making 
*'  Father  Henry  de  Valois"  their  prisoner  ;|  and 
that,  unless  he  immediately  profited  by  tl\e  access  to 
the  Tuilleries  which  was  still  uninterrupted,  all  hope 
of  escape  would  be  at  an  end.  This  warning  is  said 
to  have  been  conveyed  by  the  queen-mother,  who, 
both  on  that  and  on  the  former  day,  had  fearlessly 
made  her  passage  through  the  disturbed  streets  to  the 
Hotel  of  Guise.  The  barricades  forbade  the  progress 
of  her  coach,^  and  as  she  was  lifted  over  one  of  those 
rude  bulwarks,  a  friendly  bourgeois  is  believed  to 
have  whispered  in  her  ear  intelligence  of  the  king's 
extreme  danger,  which  she  found  means  to  notify 
in  the  palace.  ||  No  sooner  did  Henry  receive  these 
alarming  tidings,  than  he  hastened  on  foot  to  the 
stables  of  the  Tuilleries  through  a  postern  ;  and 
taking  horse,  with  as  many  of  his  attendants  as  he 

*  "  Passarono  tutti  i  soldati  scnza  onlinanza  e  senza  tamburi ;  con  la 
testa  scoperia,  e  con  I'arini  ba.sse,  a  piisa  di  jirigioni."     W.  ibid.  p.  543. 

t  The  resemblance  it]  many  poinLs  between  the  Jour  des  Barricades, 
and  the  French  Uevolulion  o(  1830,  is  very  striking.  In  the  former,  we 
read  of  700  or  800  Ecoltcrs  of  the  University  as  foremost  in  the  attack, 
whose  place  m  otirown  days  appears  to  have  been  supplied  by  the  pupila 
of  the  Ec6le  Pnlytechntque.  Davila,  thid.  p.  541.  Hist,  tres  veritable, 
p.  53  "Amplification  des  particularilez  qui  se  pnsserent  a  Paris  lora 
que  M.  de  Uuyse  sVinpara  cl  que  le  Roy  en  sortit."  Sat.  Men.  torn.  iii. 
p  68.     Jmirnal  de  Henri  Ul.  torn.  ii.  p.  99. 

X  Journal  de  Henri  UI.  ibid. 

^  Ilur  passage  from  the  Louvre  to  Guise's  hotel  occupied  two  hours. 
Pavila,  ix  lorn.  i.  p.  544. 

)l  Id.  ibid.  p.  547. 


208  MUTUAL    BLUNDERS.  [cH.  XVI. 

could  collect  and  as  could  be  mounted  in  the  exi- 
gency, he  rode  at  full  speed  that  night  to  Trapes,  and 
proceeded  on  the  next  morning  to  Chartres.  Once 
only  is  he  said  to  have  reined  his  horse,  as  he 
mounted  the  rising  ground  at  Chaillot;  whence, 
throwing  back  an  indignant  glance  at  the  walls  of  his 
rebellious  capital,  he  swore  that  he  would  never 
again  enter  them  unless  through  a  breach.* 

Every  hour  of  the  few  eventful  days  which  we 
have  been  narrating  appears  to  have  been  fraught 
with  some  new  political  blunder  on  both  sides,  and 
each  party  in  turn  threw  away  opportunities,  not  to 
be  recovered,  which  had  placed  the  other  in  its 
power.  If  Henry  had  arrested  Guise  on  his  first 
entrance  to  Paris,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that 
he  could  have  brought  him  to  the  scaftbld  by  judi- 
cial forms,  as  a  rebel  and  a  traitor.  If  Guise  had  sur- 
rounded the  Louvre  while  the  king  abode  within  it, 
he  might  have  disposed  of  the  crown.  The  one 
was,  perhaps,  stupifiedby  an  excess  of  daring  which, 
appeared  to  assert  invulnerability  ;  the  other  was 
dazzled  by  the  brightness  of  his  triumph  at  the 
commencement,  and  wanted  sufficient  steadiness  of 
vision  to  guide  it  to  its  close. f  "What  imprudence  ! 
what  rashness!"  was  the  remark  of  the  acute  Sixtus 
v.,  when  he  heard  that  Guise  had  trusted  himself  in 
the  Louvre  ;  but  when  the  messenger  continued  to 
state  that  he  had  quitted  it  and  was  at  liberty,  the 
pope  directed  his  pity  to  the  king's  want  of  courage, 
and  exclaimed,  "  Alas,  poor  prince  I"! 

*  Journal  de  Henri  UI.  torn.  ij.  p.  100. 

t  On  the  morning  after  the  Harncades,  perhaps  at  the  verj'  moment 
at  which  Henry  was  making  his  escape,  Guise  wrote  as  follows,  with  a 
blind  confidence  in  the  future.  J'ai  defait  les  Suisses  t  laille  en  pieces 
une  partie  des  Gardes  du  Roy,  ettien  le  Louvre  invesli  de  si  pres  que  je 
rendrai  bon  compte  de  ce  qui  est  dedans.  Cette  victoire  est  si  grande 
qtt'il  en  sera  m^moire  d  jamais.  Journal  de  Henri  HL  torn.  ii.  p.  106, 
note.  Could  Maimliourg  have  seen  this  letter  when  he  expressed  his 
opinion,  that  it  is  "  evident  that  the  duke  had  never  any  intention  to 
seize  the  person  of  the  king  V  Hist,  of  The  League,  Dryden's  Trans- 
lation, p.  358. 

i  De  Tbou,  \c.  12. 


A.  D.   1588.]  SIR    EDWARD    STAFFORD.  209 

Rapidly  as  we  are  compelled  to  dismiss  this  most 
interestiiiff  portion  of  our  narrative,  because  the 
Huguenots  are  not  immediate  actors  in  the  great 
scene;  and  rehictantiy  as  we  must  abstain  from 
drawing  upon  the  profusion  of  anecdote  by  which  it 
is  vividly  illustrated,  tliere  is  a  single  incident  upon 
which  an  English  writer  may  be  forgiven  if  he  ven- 
tures to  delay.  Guise  anxiously  regarded  the  esti- 
mation in  which  his  conduct  might  be  held  by  foreign 
courts,*  and  especially  by  that  of  Klizabeth  :  and  he 
therefore  omitted  no  courtesy  by  which  he  might 
favourably  impress  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  at  that  time 
resident  ambassador  from  England.  During  these 
tumults,  the  Sieur  de  Brissac  was  deputed  to  tender 
him  assurances  of  protection  and  a  guard  for  his 
hotel.  Stafford  replied  that,  if  he  were  no  more 
than  a  private  individual,  he  would  at  once  return  all 
due  thanks  to  Guise  for  his  generous  and  honourable 
offer;  but  that  being  deputed  to  the  King  of  France 
by  the  queen  his  mistress,  it  was  only  from  that 
king,  her  ally,  that  he  either  could  or  would  admit 
protection.  When  Brissac  spoke  of  the  commotion 
then  raging,  extenuated  the  part  which  Guise  was 
obliged  to  act  in  his  own  defence,  and  besought 
Stafford  so  to  represent  it  to  his  court  that  it  might 
be  favourably  understood ;  he  was  silenced  by  a  frank 
declaration  that  the  events  passing  at  that  moment 
in  Paris  must  appear  most  strange  and  evil  to  every 
prince  in  Christendom ;  that  no  embroidery,  how- 
ever rich  and  costly,  could  conceal  their  foulness,! 
for  that  it  was  the  plain  duty  of  a  subject  to  yield  just 
obedience  to  his  sovereign ;  that  he  would  willingly 
promise  to  inform  his  mistress  of  every  thing  then 
occurring :  but  that  to  become  the  mouth-piece  by 
which  the  conceptions  of  M.  de  Guise  and  his  party 

*  "  Guisius  j.im  de  ftmi  solicltua  et  quam  in  partem  ha;c  ab  exteris 
principlbus  arr.iperentur  aiixius."     Id.  ibid. 

t  "  Que  mil  habit,  diapr6  qu'il  rnlt,  ne  le  pourroit  fiiire  trouver  beau. 
AmpUr.  des  parUcularitez,"  &c.  p,  74. 

S8 


210  FIRMNESS  OF  SIR  E.  STAFFORD.      [CH.  XVI. 

were  to  be  conveyed,  by  no  means  appertained  to  his 
office  ;  and  that,  indeed,  the  queen  was  far  too  saga- 
cious to  view  facts  accoi'ding  to  any  peculiar  light  in 
which  he  might  tliink  fit  to  exhibit  them. 

"  Have  you  arms  in  your  house  ?"  inquired  Bris- 
sac.  "  If  you  were  to  ask  that  question  of  me," 
answered  Stafford, "  as  of  one  who  formerly  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  your  uncle  the  Sieur  de  Cosse,  I 
might  perhaps  answer  yes ;  but,  in  the  public  cha- 
racter which  I  have  the  honour  to  hold,  I  must  be 
silent."  When  further  informed  that  the  mob  sus- 
pected his  house  to  be  armed,  and  would  probably 
attack  it,  he  replied,  that  he  had  two  gates,  each  of 
which  should  remain  unclosed,  but  should  be  defended 
to  the  utmost,  in  order  that  all  the  world  might 
acknowledge  that  the  law  of  nations  had  been  vio- 
lated in  his  person.  "  Once  again,  as  a  friend,  let 
me  ask  you  if  you  have  arms  V — "  Since  you  ask  me 
as  a  friend,"  returned  the  minister,  "  I  will  answer 
you  as  a  friend :  If  I  were  here  as  a  private  person, 
I  would  assuredly  be  armed  ;  but  as  the  ambassa- 
dor of  England,  I  rely  upon  no  other  arms  than  the 
faith  of  nations."— "  At  least,"  said  Brissac,  "let 
me  entreat  you  to  close  your  gates ;"  and  even  in 
this  parting  request  he  failed.  "The  house  of  an 
ambassador," observed  Stafford,  "ought to  be  always 
open  to  every  comer  and  goer ;  and,  in  a  word,  I  am 
sent  to  France  not  to  reside  in  Paris  only,  but  to  be 
near  your  king,  in  whatever  spot  he  may  hold  his 
court."* 

Of  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  who  thus  firmly  main- 
tained the  honour  of  liis  country,  our  information  is 
more  scanty  than  his  manifest  good  qualities  deserve. 
A  short  notice  of  him  may  be  found  in  the  Hard- 
wicke  Stale  Papers,  where  he  and  Throckmorton  are 
ranked  by  the  noble  editor  as  Elizabeth's  two  ablest 

*  Amplifcntion  ties  particiilaritcz,  &c.  De  Thou,  xc.  12.  Sir  Edward 
Stafford's  residence  is  noted  tiy  ttie  i.iilcr  as  "  inlra  Uraubatinam  plateam 
ad  Beriiardinorum  caium,"  on  the  Quay  des  Barnardins. 


A.  D.    1588.]       SIR  EDWARD    STAFFORD.  211 

ambassadors  in  France.*  Some  very  interesting 
despatches  to  the  queen  are  there  also  printed.  In 
one  of  them,  dated  a  few  months  before  the  Barri- 
cades,! Stafford  <iives  an  account  of  a  most  import- 
ant secret  interview,  conducted  with  extraordinary 
precaution,  to  which  he  had  been  summoned  by 
Henry.  "  I  spake  yesternight  with  the  French  king, 
who  sent  for  me  by  a  man  quite  unknown,  to  a  house 
that  I  think  I  can  guess  at  again,  though  it  was  in 
the  night,  and  he  brought  me  far  out  of  tlie  right  way 
to  it,  where  I  found  nobody  but  myself.  In  the 
house  I  heard  folks,  but  nobody  saw  me,  nor  I  saw 
nobody,  for  he  that  brought  me  tarried  not  in  the 
chamber."  In  the  conversation  which  ensued,  Henry 
attributed  all  the  existing  difficulties  to  the  Reistres, 
who,  he  said,  if  they  had  possessed  either  courage  or 
discretion,  might  have  destroyed  the  league.  He 
looked  to  a  union  with  the  King  of  Navarre  as  his 
chief  hope,  and  he  was  anxious  to  throw  himself  un- 
reservedly on  Elizabeth's  mediation. J  One  other 
despatch  to  the  queen  contains  some  amusing  private 
history.  Lady  Stafford  appears  to  have  been  a 
woman  of  intrigue,  well  adapted  to  the  circle  in 
which  she  mixed  at  the  Louvre  ;  but  Elizabeth  felt 
considerable  repugnance  at  obtaining  secret  informa- 
tion through  this  channel,  and  the  ambassador  apolo- 
gizes as  follows  for  having  heretofore  employed  his 
wife's  agency.  "  For  this  your  majesty  may  assure 
yourself  of,  that  tliere  are  four  women  in  the  court, 
Mesdames  Villeroy  and  Retz,  the  Princesses  of 
Conde  and  Nevers,  that  have  all  the  news  and  most 
secretest  devices  in  the  court ;  for  there  is  never  a 
one  of  them,  or  at  least  among  these  four  one  of 
them,  that  hath  not  either  a  lover,  an  honourer,  or  a 
private  friend  of  the  secretest  council  in  the  court, 
that  will  almost  hide  nothing  from  them.  With  these 
she  having  conference,  as  they  all  desire  her  com- 
pany, among  women  {except  princesses  of  your  quality) 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  196.  t  Feb.  25, 1588.  t  Id.  ibid.  p.  251. 


212  EDICT  OF  REUNION.  [cH.  XVI. 

few  things  but  are  ripped  up  ;  and  the  more  bending 
they  feel  in  religion,  the  more  frankness,  both  in 
men  and  women,  commonly  there  is  ;  and  the  more 
they  feel  this  bend,  the  more  they  use  frankness, 
hoping  to  make  them  full  coming."  In  consequence 
of  the  queen's  dislike  to  this  mode  of  espionage, 
Stafford  then  professes  his  intention  of  abandoning 
it ;  and  adds,  that  he  will  seek  some  other  way, "  the 
cleanliest  that  I  can."* 

We  need  not  pursue  with  minuteness  the  negotia- 
tions which  the  degraded  Henry  was  compelled  to 
maintain  after  his  flight ;  they  were  con- 

"  ^'  ■  ducted  by  the  queen-mother,  and  they  pro- 
duced a  treaty,  the  Edict  of  Reunion,  which  confirmed 
the  triumph  of  Guise  bj^  legal  sanction.  After 
a  preamble,  urging  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and 
declaratory  of  interminable  war  against  the  pre- 
tended Reformed,  it  enjoined  an  oath  that,  if  the  king 
should  decease  without  male  issue,  no  successor 
should  be  admitted  who  did  not  profess  the  Catholic 
faith. t  Two  armies  were  levied  against  the  Hugue- 
nots ;  Guise  received  the  appointment  of  lieutenant- 
general;  and  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  was 
Augus  ■  declared  first  prince  of  tlie  blood,  with 
all  the  privileges  belonging  to  that  high  station,  j 
The  king  consented  to  receive  Guise  at  his  court 
pnd  table  ;  and  when  entertaining  him  at  Chartres, 

*  M.  ibid.  p.  215.  I.ady  Stafford  was  Douglas,  eldest  daupliler  of 
lyord  Howard  of  EtlinRliain,  and  niece  to  ihe  Duke  of  Norfolk,  beheaded 
for  his  conspirapy  in  favour  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  After  the  death 
of  her  first  hnshand,  .lohn  I.ord  .Sheffield,  she  was  privately  married,  as 
there  can  be  little  doubt,  to  Leicester,  by  wlioin  she  had  a  son.  the  cele- 
brated Sir  Robert  Durlley.  The  account  of  bis  claim  to  his  father's  title 
and  estates,  and  the  arbitrary  suppression  of  his  process,  may  be  found 
in  Dugdale's  Harona^e,  vol.  ii.  p.  222.  I.ady  Slaflord  was  one  onlv  of 
the  numerous  similar  victims  of  Leicester's  villany.  She  declared  that 
she  consented  to  marry  Sir  Edward  Stafford,  while  her  lawful  husband 
■was  still  alive,  solely  in  order  to  save  her  life,  "having  bad  some  ill  po- 
tions" g'ven  her,  which  occasioned  the  loss  of  her  hair  and  nails,  She 
(Survived  Stafford,  who  died  in  1(51)4. 

t  jll'fli.  de  la  Ligiic.  torn.  iii.  p.  52. 

i  14.  ibid.  f.  57.    De  Thou,  xci.  20. 


A.  r.   1588.]       PERSECUTION  IN  PARIS.  213 

he  is  said  to  have  alluded  with  unfeeling  levity  to 
his  own  recent  dishonour.* 

The  increased  ascendency  of  the  league  was 
shown  in  Paris  by  the  revival  of  active  persecu- 
tion, and  the  secular  arm  once  again  demanded 
its  victims.  Two  ladies  of  reputable  parentage, 
daughters  of  Foucaud,  an  attorney  to  the  parlia- 
ment, had  been  subjected  to  a  long  and  painful  im- 
prisonment in  the  Chatelet,  for  refusing  to  attend 
mass.  Prayers,  menaces,  promises,  and  arguments 
had  been  employed  alike  in  vain  to  seduce  them 
from  their  constancy.  The  king,  before 
his  flight,  had  personally  visited  their  cells,  *"'  '' 
attended  by  two  leading  divines ;  but  the  baffled 
priests  were  compelled  to  admit  that  conversion 
was  hopeless,  and  that  they  never  encountered  op- 
ponents better  versed  in  the  doctrines  of  their  faith.f 
In  the  following  summer,  these  sisters 
were  dragged  to  the  stake,  as  obstinate  ""®  ■ 
Huguenots.  They  endured  their  sufferings  with  un- 
shrinking fortitude,  although  the  fury  of  the  popu- 
lace exacted  from  one  of  them  a  severity  of  pun- 
ishment beyond  the  intention  of  the  law,  and  com- 
mitted her  alive  to  the  flames  by  cutting  the  rope, 
with  which  she  was  sentenced  to  be  previously 
strangled,  before  it  had  performed  its  office. | 

While  Guise  virtually  exercised  all  the  functions 
of  sovereignty  in  the  capital,  the  king  looked  with 

*  He  proposed,  as  a  toast,  "  Nos  bona  amys  les  Huguenots,"  adding, 
"  Nos  boiis  Uarrii'adeurs,  ne  les  oublions  pas." — Journal  de  Fleuri  III. 
torn.  ii.  p.  119.  The  editor's  note  is  amusing  :— "  Le  Ligueur  et  le  Hu- 
guenot tout  est  eg.-il ;  c'est  parti  coiitre  pani ;  I'un  ne  vaut  pas  mieuxque 
I'autrp.  Dt'S  que  tous  deux  sont  opposes  i  I'autorit  legitime^  ce  sout  les 
Wiglis  et  les  Toris  I" 

t  Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  ii.  p.  90. 

t  Id.  ihid.  p.  no.  Du  Plessis  has  an  allusion  to  this  savage  execti- 
tion,  torn.  iv.  p.  246.  D'Aubigni',  who  mistakes  the  name  of  the  parlies, 
calling  them  Sureaux,  states  that  their  snflTerings  excited  compassion. 
"  Le  peuple  les  trouvaiit  belles,  ct  un  vicillard  tout  blanc  aiant  montc  sur 
un  boulujue  pour  s'escrier  cllcs  voiit  devant  Dieu,  le  peuple,  au  lieu  de 
sauter  au  colet  de  cct  homme,  respoudit  ijuclijuca  gemissemens."—  WaL 
Univ.  toRL  iii.  lir.  iii,  c.  i.  p-  21&, 


214  STATES-GENERAL  AT  BLOIS.         [cH.  XVI. 

idle  hope  to  a  long-promised  meeting  of  the  states- 
general  at  Blois  ;  and  weakly  supposed  that  his  lost 
authority  might  be  recovered  by  an  expedient  to 
which  his  predecessors  had  never  resorted  without 
some  diminution  of  their  otherwise  undefined 
prerogative.  No  sooner,  however,  had  the  states 
assembled,  than  the  influence  of  Guise,  as 

"^'^  ■  might  be  expected,  showed  its  predomi- 
nance ;  the  benches  of  the  deputies  presented  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  leaguers ;  and 

'''■  ■  one  of  their  earliest  acts  was  a  renewal 
of  the  oath  binding  all  parties  to  an  observance 
of  the  recent  edict  of  reunion  which  was  regis- 
tered as  a  fundamental  law  of  the  kingdom.*  In- 
dulging in  his  passion  for  ecclesiastical  pomp,  the 
king,  already  before  the  opening  of  the  sitting,  had 
borne  part  in  a  solemn  procession,  and  jointly  with 
Guise  had  received  the  Eucharist  from  the  hands  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon.  Not  content  with  this 
single  odious  mockery  of  things  sacred,  once  again 
he  invited  his  great  enemy  to  the  altar,  and  there 
swore  upon  the  body  of  the  Saviour  a  cor- 

^'^'  '  dial  reconciliation,  and  an  entire  oblivion  of 
past  differences.  "  For  the  future,"  said  this  hj^po- 
crite,  "  I  shall  devote  myself  to  prayer  and  penitence, 
and  the  burthen  of  state  government  may  devolve  on 
the  queen  my  mother,  and  on  my  cousin  of  Guise."f 
Whether  at  the  moment  in  wiiich  these  Avords  were 
uttered,  Henry  had  matured  the  bloody  design  which 
he  executed  ere  three  more  weeks  had  passed,  it  is 
not  possible  to  determine.  The  general  causes  of 
his  hatred,  and  the  peril  to  which  he  must  ever  con- 
tinue exposed  so  long  as  Guise  survived,  are  suffi- 
ciently plain  from  the  whole  tenor  of  our  past  narra- 
tive ;  yet  so  Avaveringwas  his  conduct,  so  uncertain 
^vere  his  principles,  that  we  are  far  more  inclined  to 


*  De  Thou,  xcii.  12. 

■f  Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  ii.  p.  J37r 


A*  D.  1588.]  MURDER  OF  GUISE.  215 

attribute  the  resolution  which  he  ultimately  adopted 
to  a  sudden  impulse  and  a  capricious  burst  of  pas- 
sion,than  to  any  long-cherished  intention  or  any  dis- 
cover)'of  new  designs  against  his  crown.  Conjec- 
ture, indeed,  has  been  largely  employed  in  surmising 
additional  reasons  to  explain  his  headlong  measures; 
but  no  proof  has  been  adduced  that  Guise  was  more 
dangerous  or  meditated  bolder  attempts  than  here- 
tofore. Henry  must  long  since  have  been  suffi- 
ciently wearied  of  his  yoke  ;  the  cup  of  bitterness 
was  full  even  to  the  brim,  and  a  movement  scarcely 
perceptible  to  the  sight,  a  breath,  a  feather,  or  a 
grain  of  dust  might  occasion  its  overflowing.* 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  Decern-  ^  _ 
ber,  Guise  obeyed  a  citation  to  a  council, 
which  had  been  purposely  fixed  at  a  very  early 
hour.  To  repeated  warnings,  addressed  to  him  for 
some  days  before,  that  a  design  was  contemplated 
against  his  life,  he  returned  but  one  answer — "  They 
dare  not ;"  nor  does  he  appear  to  have  been  awak- 
ened to  any  sense  of  danger  till  he  found  himself  in 
the  council-hall,  effectually  intercepted  from  all 
communication  with  his  usual  retinue.  The  doors 
were  secured,  and  the  apartment  was  filled  by  nu- 
merous members  of  the  royal  body-guard,  a  chosen 
band  of  five-and-forty  tried  and  resolute  men,  reliefs 
of  whom  sentinelled  the  king  by  day  and  night  w^ith- 
out  intermission.  Some  tokens  of  bodily  infirmity 
are  said  to  have  escaped  him  when  awaiting  the 


*  De  Thou  lias  placed  in  the  king's  mouth  an  imaginary  speech  of 
fmmoilerale  length,  which  he  supposes  him  lo  address  to  four  of  his 
cnnfidenlial  servants  jii.Wn  se  sedcrc  jussis,  expounding  to  them  all  his 
many  grievances,  and  showing  llie  necossiiy  of  extraordinary  measures 
for  their  redress,  xcni.  11.  Cayet  notices  a  report  that  llenry  was 
strongly  intlnenced  by  the  recollection  of  a  dream  occurring  some  years 
before,  in  w  h\ch  he  liad  been  worried  by  the  beasts  in  liis  menagerie, 
and  that  pains  had  been  lalten  to  persuade  him  that  the  lion,  who  then 
principally  tormented  him,  was  tlie  chief  of  the  league.  Chron. 
Novcnii.  toni  i.  p.  101.  The  dream  and  the  consequent  destruction  of 
all  the  wild  beasts  in  the  royal  menagerie,  on  January  21,  1583,  ar«' 
lecordcd  in  the  Journal  de  Ileiiri  III.  torn.  i.  p.  382. 


216  MURDER  OF  GUISE.  [cH.  XVI. 

summons  to  the  royal  presence  ;  but  these  have 
been  attributed  to  other  causes  than  to  mental  ap- 
prehension. After  tasting-  a  confection  which  the 
attendants  offered  as  a  restorative,  he  followed  the 
usher,  who  announced  that  Henry  was  ready  to  ad- 
mit him  ;  and  as  he  raised  the  hangings  which  sepa- 
rated a  short  corridor  from  the  king's  chamber,  he 
was  struck  by  a  poniard  aimed  at  the  throat,  from  a 
suspicion  that  he  might  wear  a  shirt  of  mail  under 
his  doublet.  The  blood  gushed  from  the  wound 
and  prevented  utterance  :  he  laid  his  hand  instinct- 
ively on  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  staggered  a  few 
paces,  and  heaving  one  deep  and  heavy  sigh,  fell 
pierced  with  numberless  wounds  from  the  assassins 
who  pressed  round  him.* 

The  noise  of  the  struggle  alarmed  the  Cardinal 
of  Guise  and  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  who  still  re- 
mained in  the  council-hall ;  and  as  they  arose, 
either  to  assist  the  duke  or  to  attempt  escape,  they 
were  overpowered,  and  borne  prisoners  to  an  upper 
room  of  the  palace.  The  arrest  of  many  of  the 
chief  leaguers  followed ;  and  the  king,  having'  as- 
sured himself  of  the  completion  of  the  murder, 
proceeded  to  his  customary  mass.f    In  crossing  ta 

*  Cayet  has  given  numerous  variations  in  tlie  minor  particulars  attend- 
ing the  murder  of  Guise,  and  he  adds  a  remarlv  wliich,  proceeding  from 
a  contemporary,  may  show  the  hopelessness  of  attaining  cerlumty  at 
present.  "Tons  ceux  nui  ont  cscril  comme  le  Due  de  Guyse  fut  tue  se 
discordent  tous." — Chron.  JVovenn.  toni.  i.  p.  105.  Pasquier,  liv.  xiii. 
Ep.  5,  6,  as  usual,  has  some  interesting  details.  See  also  a  "Discours 
de  ce  <iui  est  arrive  d  Hloi.s  jusques  A  la  mort  du  Due  et  du  Cardinal  de 
Guise,"  in  the  Preiivex  de  la  Sat.  Men.  toni.  iii.  |).  15!). 

t  "  Inde  Rex  ad  sacrum  more  solito  in  arce  auiliendum  pcrrexit." — Da 
Thou,  xciii.  15.  "Apres  cette  execution  Ic  Roy  sortit  pour  aller  A  la 
Messe." — Journal  </»•  Henri  HI.  torn.  ii.  p.  150.  Maimbourg  (p.  'l(lfi)  ha.s 
exposed  the  falsehood  of  Davila's  narrative,  in  ■which  a  long  conversation 
in  the  palace  court  with  the  legale  Morosini  is  represented  to  have  taken 
place  while  the  king  passed  to  iho  chapel.  Stephano  ("osmi,  a  nephew 
of  Morosini,  who  published  Mnnorie  of  his  uncle,  sufficiently  showa 
that  the  legate  was  unable  to  obtain  audience,  although  he  repeatedly 
sought  it,  till  the  Sfiih,  three  days  alter  the  murder.  The  cajjtain  of  the 
guard  answered  him,  "  Che  tenea  commissione  dal  Re,  di  non  lasciar 
Uhcro  il  passo  a  persona  vivente,  e  fu  immobile."  lib.  iii.  p.  -Ifie.  Morosini 
Siimself  writes  toCardinal  Montalio, "  non  laBcierikii  coniiiiuar  chiederla<"' 


A.  D.  1589.]    DEATH  OF  CATHERINE,         217 

the  chapel,  he  stopped  at  the  apartment  to  wliich 
his  mother  was  now  confined  by  illness  and  in- 
firmity, and  triumphantly  announced  to  her  the 
perpetration  of  a  crime,  in  the  conception  of  which, 
by  a  rare  chance,  she  had  not  been  a  sharer.  With- 
out expressing  either  surprise  or  consternation  at 
the  unexpected  atrocity,  Catherine  simply  asked  if 
he  had  weighed  all  the  probable  results,  and  taken 
his  precautions  accordingly :  and  upon  receiving 
assurances  that  the  necessary  steps  had  been 
adopted,  she  prayed  God  to  prosper  him  in  what  he 
had  done.  But  her  sagacious  eye  must  have  fore- 
seen the  great  evils  which  were  about  to  follow 
this  precipitate  violence  ;  and  her  lofty  spirit  could 
ill  brook  the  exclusion  from  state  secrets  to  which 
it  was  manifest  she  must  now  submit.  Her  son  had 
emancipated  himself  from  his  pupilage;  and  in  the 
most  important  moment  of  his  life,  had  dared  to  act, 
not  only  without  her  concurrence,  but  without  her 
privity.  Once  only  after  this  interview  did  she 
leave  her  chamber;  it  was  to  encounter  the  re- 
proaches of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  at  that  time 
sick  and  under  arrest.  Overconje  with  chagrin  and 
exhaustion,  she  then  took  to  her  bed,  and 
expired,  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  Jan-  j'^*^*''- 
uary,  in  her  71st  year,  unmourned  and  dis- 
regarded. "  No  one,"  says  an  author,  who  has  col- 
lected the  particulars  of  her  last  moments,  "  con- 
cerned himself  either  with  her  illness  or  her  death  ; 
and  when  her  eyes  were  closed,  she  was  not  more 
spoken  of  than  a  dead  dog."*      During  thirty  years 

ibid.  Nevertheless,  although  "adoperd  epii  ogn'  industria  per  ottener 
Udien7.a  dal  Re,  ma  riusci  tuito  a  vuoto."  p.  iC~.  At  Inigth.  "  Hi  trasferi 
dunque  il  Carriinale  a  di  vemi  sei  di  Dcneinbre  all' udicnza  del  Re." 
p.  484.     No  evidence  can  be  mote  conclusive. 

'  "  EUe  mounil  sans  que  personne  s"ein(iii-li4t,  ni  se  soudfit  d'elle, 
ni  en  sa  nnladie,  ni  cu  sa  niopl,  non  plus  que  de  la  pernonno  la  plus  con- 
temptible d«  Roiaume.  Aprd.s  sa  nnort  on  nc  parla  non  plus  d  elle  que 
rt'une  chevre  niorle." — Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  lo*n.  iii.  p.  174.  "  Morlc  tanl» 
ReminiB,  quse  res  nostras  Kcmpor  miscurraf,  ncc  qtUsquam  moltum 
lasiari  neo  indolere  visusesl."  — l)e  Tliou,  xciv.  3. 

Vol.  II.— T 


218  CARDINAL  or  GUISE  MURDERED.      [cH.  XVI. 

past,  she  had  been  constructine:  a  mausoleum,  for 
the  king  her  husband,  for  herself,  and  for  her  chil- 
dren, in  three  costly  chapels  attached  to  the  cathe- 
dral at  St.  Denis  ;  and  the  sums  lavished  upon  their 
erection  are  compared  by  Pasquier  to  the  expendi- 
ture on  similar  depositories  by  the  Kings  of  Egypt. 
Yet  even  these  idle  hopes  of  posthumous  distinction 
were  frustrated.  The  town  of  Blois  was  unable  to 
furnish  drugs  and  spices  for  her  embalmment ;  and 
necessity  compelled  a  hasty  interment  by  night  in 
a  simple  grave,  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  church, 
such  as  would  have  been  allotted  for  the  meanest 
individual.* 

The  fate  of  the  Cardinal  of  Guise  was 
Dec.  24.  '^ot  decided  till  the  day  after  the  murder 
of  his  brother;  and  even  Avhen  the  king 
had  resolved  upon  his  death,  it  was  no  easy  task  to 
find  instruments  by  which  the  sentence  could  be 
executed.  The  forty-five,  although  reeking  from 
the  assassination  of  the  duke,  refused  to  imbue 
their  hands  in  priestly  blood,  and  shrank,  not  from 
actual  homicide,  but  from  imaginary  sacrilege. 
Four  mercenaries,  of  a  lower  grade,  were  bribed 
highly  to  the  deed  ;  and  the  cardinal,  summoned 
from  the  apartment  in  which  he  was  confined,  as  if 
to  attend  the  king,  was  butchered  by  their  halberds 
in  a  dark  adjoining  corridor.  In  order  to  prevent 
any  seditious  movement  which  might  be  excited  by 
a  public  funeral  of  tlie  deceased  brothers,  and  by 
the  dangerous  exhibition  which  it  was  foreseen  the 
leaguers  wOuld  make  of  tlieir  relics,  if  they  obtained 
possession  of  them,  the  bodies  were  consumed  by 
quick-lime  at  night,  in  the  court  of  the  palace. f 

*  J'asquier,  liv.  xiii.  Ep.  8. 

t  De  Thou  xciii.  17.  IJfiitivoKlio  has  given  a  most  vivid  description 
of  the  apartmeiUs  in  the  castle  of  Blois  which  were  the  scenes  of  these 
trajfic  acts.  "  Mi  feci  condurre,  hllc  camere  dell'  apartanieiito  Regie, 
dove  fu  atnav,7,rito  il  Duca  lii  Giiisa  a  pli  Stati  Gcnerali  d'Henrico  lerzo. 
Diqua  entro  ;  (jni  dicevano)  qui  lielibc  ij  primo  colpo  ;  qui  .-irodrA  inezza 
laspiida;  qullu  tjnirono;  c  qui  in  desparte  stava  nascusto  il  Re  stes.so 


A.  D.    1589.]       EXCITEMENT  IN  PARIS.  219 

Instead  of  vi£»-orously  pursuing  Uve  blow  which 
he  had  thus  ventured  to  strike,  and  marching  at 
once  on  Paris,  to  justify  himself  by  arms  and  to  de- 
stroy the  faction  which  he  had  stunned,  the  king  re- 
lapsed into  his  former  indolence,  and  contented 
himself  by  publishing  apologies  and  manifestoes 
from  the  palace  at  Blois.  The  fury  excited  in  the 
capital  on  the  arrival  of  the  intelligence  of  Guise's 
death  was  unbounded,  and  exhibited  itself  in  shapes 
the  most  fantastical.  Prayer  and  fasting  four  times 
a  week,  in  some  instances  throuirhout  the  entire 
week,  were  generally  enjoined  by  the  priests ;  all 
festive  meetings  were  prohibited  ;  the  celebration 
of  marriage  was  suspended  ;*  and  processions 
hourly  thronged  the  churches,  either  in  honour  of 
the  memory  of  the  deceased,  or  in  execration  of 
the  "  accursed  tyrant"!  by  whom  "  the  martyrs"  had 
perished.  We  read  of  a  procession  of  all  the  chil- 
dren in  Paris,  male  and  female,  from  the 
cemetery  of  the  Innocents  to  the  church  *"'  ' 
of  St.  Geneviev^e.  They  are  affirmed  to  have  been 
nearly  100,000  in  number  ;|  all  of  them  bore  lighted 


a  vederlo  morire.  Piii  grande  fu  anche  I'horrore  cho  mi  cagion<!)  il  luogo 
aovc  il  di  appresso  fii  crudelinenle  animazzalo  a  col  pi  d'alabarde  il  Car- 
dinal suo  frSlello."  He  afterward  saw  the  chamber  in  which  ihe  Cardi- 
nal of  Uoiirbon  was  imprisoned,  and  thai  also  in  which  Catherine  of 
Medicis  died;  "e  considerai  con  (;ranil'  atlcntione  ciiulle  animate  miira- 
glie  che  sipirano  a|  vivo  Ic  niiserie  dellu  Coroue  en  mezzo  all' apparent! 
loro  adorate  felicilA."— Lf^^frf ,  p.  153. 

*  Journal  des  chnses  (ulieiiuls  a  Paris  dfpvis  le  '25  Dec.  1588,  itisq''  au 
demicr  jour  iTAvril,  1589.  Printed  in  Ihe  Journal  de  Henri  III.  tom.  ii. 
p.  46fi.  ■ 

t  Ce  mnitdit  tyran  is  the  style  by  which  Henry  is  perpetually  men- 
tioned. Numerous  vituperative  anagrams  were  formed  out  of  Henri  de 
Valnis.  by  a  convenient  omission  or  addition  of  letters.  Among  them 
are  mentioned  O  crudelis  Hyccna ;  Vilain  Herode ;  Dehors  le  vilain. — 
Sat.  Menip.  lorn.  ii.  p.  347. 

t  Journal  ut  sup.  p.  471.  The  number  must  be  ereatly  exa^feTated, 
for  the  entire  popul.ition  of  Ihe  capital  at  the  lime  is  estimated  by  Perefixe 
at  not  more  than  300,000  souls.— P.  151.  Put  the  journalist  is  not  re- 
markable for  accuracy  in  his  next  week's  entry,  when  noticing  an  an- 
nounccmont  which  is  evidently  meant  to  he  that  of  the  death  of  Catherine, 
he  tolls  us  that  the  queen  consort  is  dead,  having  been  poisoned  by  the 
inaudit  tyran,  m  order  that  he  may  enter  into  a  new  marriage,  either 


220  INSURRECTIONARY    DECREE.  [cH.   XVI. 

tapers,  which,  on  their  arrival  at  the  church  porch, 
they  threw  on  the  ground  and  trampled  under  foot, 
crying,  with  a  loud  voice,  "  God  grant  that  in  a 
short  time  the  race  of  Valois  may  be  thus  entirely 
extinguished  !"*  On  other  occasions  many  hundred 
persons  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes  paraded  the 
streets  and  resorted  to  the  churches,  in  a  state 
which  we  should  be  justified  in  interpreting  entire 
nakedness,  but  for  certain  incidental  qualifying  ex- 
pressions;! and  these  gross  and  indecent  specta- 
cles, which  were  exhibited  many  times  during  the 
carnival,  are  extolled  as  devout  substitutes  for  the 
customary  masquerades  and  extravagances  of  that 
season  of  licensed  folly.  The  Duchess  of  Guise 
was  delivered  of  a  posthumous  son  a  month 
after  his  father's  assassination,  and  the 
baptism  of  this  infant  Was  celebrated  with  a  strange 
medley  of  grief  and  festivity.  The  palace  of  Guise, 
and  the  church  of  St.  Jean-en-Gr^ve,  in  which  the 
sacrament  was  administered,  were  hung  with  black; 
all  the  civic  authorities  attended  in  mourning-garb  ; 
and  Avhen  the  child  had  received  his  name,  drums, 
trumpets,  cornets,  and  hautboys  sounded  an  alarm, 
and  amid  the  roar  of  cannons,  "  in  testimony  of 
great  rejoicing,"  the  company  adjourned  to  a  colla- 
tion in  the  Hotel  de  Ville,{ 

The  Duke  of  Aumale  was  declared  governor  of 
the  city ;  and  the  open  rebellion  upon  which  Paris 
had  decided  received  a   formal   sanction  from   a 


with  Elizabeth  of  England  or  with  the  sister  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
p.  472. 

*  Abregi  de  VHist.  de  Henri  HI.  par  Machon. — Journal  de  Ilenri  III. 
torn.  ii.  p.  567. 

t  "  Tnnt  fils  qne  fiUes,  hommfs  que  femmes,  qui  sent  tous  nus  en  che 
mise.  tellrinent  que  on  ne  vit  jamaiN  si  tcMe  chose,  Dieu  merci." — Jour- 
nal ut  svp.  p.  491.     "11  y  avoit  plus  de  mille  pcrsonnos,  lant  fils,  filles 

homines  que  femmes,  tous  niids Et  quclques  uns  (des  Rellgieux) 

tout  niids,  conime  etoit  !e  Cure  nomme  Maltre  Frangois  Pigenal,  duquol 
on  fait  plus  d'etat  que  d'aucun  autre  qui  eloit  tout  nud,  et  n'avoit  qu'ime 
guilbe  de  loile  blanche  siir  Ini."— W.  p-  505 

}  M.  p.  49.5.  At. 


A.  D.  1589.]  OF    THE    SORBONNE.  221 

decree  of  the  Sorbonne.  The  assembled  divines  re- 
plied to  two  questions  which  their  fellow-citizens 
had  proposed  ;  first,  that  the  people  of  France  were 
absolved  from  their  oaths  of  fidelity  and  allegiance 
to  Henry ;  secondly,  that  they  might  lawfully  and 
with  a  safe  conscience  take  arms,  form  unions,  and 
collect  money  in  support  of  the  Catholic,  Apostolical, 
and  Romish  religion  against  the  nefarious  designs 
of  the  king  and  his  adherents,  who  had  violated 
public  faith  to  the  prejudice  of  the  said  religion,  of 
the  edict  of  union,  and  of  the  national  liberty  of  the 
three  estates  of  the  kingdom.* 

The  pulpit,  as  on  most  former  occasions,  was  tlie 
chief  vehicle  by  which  passionate  addresses  found 
circulation  among  the  populace ;  and  no  charges 
appear  to  have  been  thought  too  absurd  or  too  un- 
measured for  production.  Unhappily,  the  vices  of 
Henry,  even  if  unexaggerated,  might  have  furnished 
a  prolific  theme  for  reprehension  to  a  Christian 
preacher ;  but  the  zeal  of  his  enemies  connected 
him  with  guilt  whicK  exists  only  in  imagination. 
The  minions  were  -aflirmed  to  have  introduced  him 
to  a  supernatural  commerce  with  sorcerers  and 
devils  ;  D'Epernon,  if  not  himself  an  incarnate  fiend, 
the  familiar  of  liis  master,  wa,s  at  best  but  an  invet- 
erate magician;  and  in  a  cofler  belonging  to  him, 
which  had  fallen  into  the  possession  of  the  leaguers, 

*  Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn,  ii  p  170.  Pc  Thou,  xciv.  8.  The  latter 
denies  the  assertion  made  in  the  printed  decree  itself,  that  it  was  passed 
unanimously.  It  was  opposed  by  some  of  the  elder  members  of  the 
faculty,  and  by  the  dean,  .lean  j^aber,  as  "  perniciosus,  in  priesens 
tetnerarius,  et  apud  posteros  inramia>  plenus  " 

Concerning  a  criminal  i)rocess  said  to  have  been  instituted  by  the 
Duchess  of  Guise  before  llu-  parliament  against  the  king,  the  reader 
may  turn  to  De  Thou,  xciv.  10,  13,  and  to  the  "  Remaniues  sur  la  Satyre 
Menippt'e,"  tom  iii.  p.  29,3,  318.  Bayle  has  collected  some  curious 
matters  on  this  point  under  Henri  de  Gi  isk.  Rem.  i.  l!ut  afler  llie 
pointed  declaration  of  Cayei,  it  mnst  be  di)Ul)t('ul  whether  any  reliance 
can  be  placed  upon  the  printed  document  which  liayle  has  cited.  "  I'lu- 
sieurs  ont  tenus,  que  ceste  Requeste,  quoy  qn'elle  ait  estfe  imprimis, 
n'avoit  jamais  este  presenti^'e;  non  plus  que  beaucoup  d'autres  choses 
qui  ne  furent  pour  lors  imprimees  i  Paris  que  pour  entretenir  le  Peuple 
au  Party  de  rUnioii,"— Chron.  Novenn.  tom.  I.  p.  141. 

T  2 


222  THE    KING    ACCUSED  [cH.  XVI. 

certain  parchments  were  said  to  ha%'e  been  found, 
impressed  with  "  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  numerous 
unknown  characters  ;"  circles  surrounded  by  caba- 
listic figures  ;  drugs,  unguents,  mirrors,  and  peeled 
wands  which  had  every  appearance  of  having  been 
formed  from  the  mystic  hazel.  All  this  machinery 
of  forbidden  science  was  committed  to  the  flames, 
with  that  horror  which  it  could  not  fail  to  inspire  ;* 
but  two  damning  evidences  of  similar  criminality  in 
the  king  himself  were  preserved  for  public  exhi- 
bition. The  description  of  these  abominations  de- 
serves to  be  given  in  the  very  words  of  the  original. 
*'  At  the  Bois  de  Vincennes"  (a  convent  of  Minimes 
which  the  king  had  founded,  and  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  frequent  under  pretext  of  devotion) 
"have  recently  been  discovered  two  silver-gilt 
satyrs,  about  four  inches  in  height,  each  holding  in 
his  left  hand  a  massive  club,  upon  which  he  rests.  In 
their  right  hands  they  bear  a  vase  of  pure  and  trans- 
parent crystal,  and  they  are  fixed  on  a  gilt  circular 
base,  supported  by  four  feet.  In  these  vases  were 
inserted  drugs,  the  names  and  qualities  of  which  are 
unknown,  intended  for  oblations ;  and  what  is  most 
detestable,  these  idols  were  placed  in  front  of  a 
golden  crucifix,  enchased  in  which  is  a  fragment  of 
the  true  cross.  The  PoUtiques  maintained  that 
these  sculptures  were  candelabra  ;  but  this  expla- 
nation deserves  little  credit,  for  they  had  no  points  on 
which  tapers  could  have  been  fixed."! 

The  preacher,  who  during  his  sermon  drew  from 
beneath  his  gown  these  innocent  Casseleites,  as 
vouchers  of  Henry's  addiction  to  demon- worship,^ 
did  not  scruple  to  inculcate  regicide  as  a  virtue. 
When  a  leaguer,  whose  conscience  was  less  seared 

*  De  Thou.  xciv.  13.  Les  Sorcelleries  de  Henri  de  Valois,  in  the  Jour- 
nal de  Fienri  HI.  lom.  iii.  p.  373. 

t  Id.  ibid. 

i  His  name  wns  Lincestre,  or  Guincestre.— /ournni  de  Henri  Til.  torn, 
ii.  p.  170. 


A.  D.  1589.]  OF   SORCERY.  228 

than  that  of  his  fiery  teacher,  excused  his  absence 
from  communion  during  the  holy  week,  on  a  plea 
of  the  inability  which  he  felt  to  cleanse  his  heart 
from  a  desire  of  vengeance  against  the  king,  the 
pastor  rebuked  him  for  unnecessary  squeamishness. 
"  I  myself,"  he  continued,  "  (and  in  this  declaration 
I  speak  the  sentiments  of  my  whole  order)  who 
daily  consecrate  the  body  of  our  Lord,  would  not 
hesitate  to  stab  the  tyrant  before  the  altar,  even 
while  I  was  holding  that  precious  body  in  my 
hands."*  Among  the  auditors  who  shuddered  at 
the  denouncement  of  Henry's  sorcery,  many  formed 
waxen  images,  which,  consecrated  at  numerous 
masses  and  adjured  by  necromantic  forms,  they 
afterward  pricked  to  the  heart ;  in  the  hope  that  the 
joint  efficacy  of  devotion  and  diabolism  might  work 
the  death  of.  the  king,  whom  these  puppets  were 
intended  to  represent.! 

Nor  was  it  in  Paris  only  that  Henry's  authority 
was  rejected ;  the  flame  of  rebellion  spread  rapidly 
through  the  kingdom  ;  Orleans,  the  most  important 
city  next  to  the  capital,  very  early  declared  itself 
for  the  leaguers.  The  greater  part  of  Normandy 
and  Champagne,  and  the  whole  of  Burgundy,  es- 
poused the  same  cause,  as  did  Bretagne  also,  after 
some  hesitation.  Lyons  expelled  the  royal  governor ; 
Toulouse  was  stained  with  the  blood  of  her  chief 
magistrates  Duffis  and  Durante  ;  the  latter  an  officer 
venerable  alike  for  piety,  learning,  and  benevolence, 
the  single  drawback  upon  whose  numerous  virtues 
appears  to  have  been  an  imprudent  deference  to  the 
very  rabble  by  whom  in  the  end  he  was  torn  in 
pieces. J  The  Duke  of  Mayenne  was  re-  p  |^  ,„ 
ceived  at  Paris  with  transports  of  enthu-    '"  ' 

*  Id.  ib-d.  p.  88. 

t  Id.  ibid.  p.  172. 

t  Glim  plebi  gratus,  tunc  repente  eidem,  qiioJ  nioriperari  nollet,  summe 
invisus.— DeThon,  xcv.  1.  How  ofien  must  this  lesson  be  repeated  bo- 
fore  it  can  obtain  general  credence  I  The  whole  of  the  above-cited  chapter 
deserves  to  be  studied  for  its  practical  wiBdom. 


224  STATE    OF    FEELING    AMONG  [CH.  XVI. 

siasm  ;  and  a  council  of  Forty,*  created  by  the  Seize, 
invested  him  with  the  anomalous  title  of  Lieutenant 
of  the  State  and  Crown  of  France.]  The  seal  under 
which  the  proceedings  of  this  new  executive  were 
to  be  verified  bore  an  empty  throne  as  its  device,  and 
the  seal  of  the  Kingdom  of  France  as  its  legend,  but 
Mayenne  had  too  much  sagacity  not  to  perceive 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  this  body  to  render  him 
a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  that  party  whose  ulti- 
mate goal  was  a  republic.  With  no  small  dexterity 
he  largely  augmented  their  number  by  the  admission 
of  his  own  immediate  friends  and  adherents ;  and 
the  assembly,  thus  newly  modelled,  received  the 
name  of  the  General  Council  of  the  League-X 

Abandoned  on  every  hand,  with  scarcely  sufficient 
troops  to  mount  guard  about  his  person,  and  with  a 
miserable  suite  of  fugitive  civilians  as  his  court,  the 
king  retired  to  Tours  ;  and  his  single  chance  of 
safety  appeared  to  rest  on  negotiation  with  the  per- 
secuted Huguenots.  A  political  assembly  of  the 
Reformed  had  been  held  at  La  Rochelle  simulta- 
neously with  the  meeting  of  the  states-general 
at  Blois.  Its  proceedings,  relating  to  numerous 
points  of  internal  discipline  upon  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary that  we  should  stop,i^  terminated  on  the  17th  of 

*  Their  names  may  be  found  in  the  Remarques  Siir  la  Sat.  Menip. 
torn.  ii.  p.  336. 

t  The  absurdity  of  this  title,  which  was  Invenled  by  the  President 
Brisson,  is  well  exposed  in  the  Speech  of  RI.  d'Aubray,  in  the  Sat. 
Men.  torn  i.  p.  130; — "  Lieutenant  de  I'Kslat  et  Couronne  est  un  tilre 
inoiiy  et  estrange,  qui  a  trop  Jongue  queue,  comme  une  chimere  contra 
Nature  qui  fait  peur  aux  petits  enfans.  Quiconque  est  Lieutenant,  est 
Lieutenant  d'un  autre,  duquel  il  tieiit  le  lieu,  qui  ne  [leut  faire  sa  fonction 
i  cause  de  son  absence  ou  autre  empeschenient ;  et  Ijieutenant  est  Lieu- 
tenant d'un  autre  homme;  niais  de  dire  qu'un  homme  soit  Lieutenant 
d'une  chose  inanimce,  comme  I'Estat  ou  la  Couronne  d'un  Roy,  c'est 
chose  absurde,  et  qui  nc  sc  pent  soustenir" 

t  Le  Con.^eil  General  de  rVnion. — De  Thou,  xciv.  12.  The  names  of 
the  original  Fmly,  and  some  account  of  their  constitution,  may  be  found 
in  the  second  volume  of  the  Sntyre  Menippie,  p.  33f5. 

§  The  heads  are  given  by  be  Thou,  xcii,  20,  and  a  Prnpnsition  du 
Roy  de  Navarre  en  f  AssembUe  tenevf  d  la  Rochelle  mSy  be  found  in  Du 
Plessis,  torn.  iv.  p.  274.  Du  Plessis  anticipated  much  good  from  this 
meeting.    It  is  undertaken,  ha  ea}ia>  "  pour  la  resolution  de  tous  affaires 


A.  D.    1589.]  THE  HUGUENOTS.  225 

December ;  and  the  feelings  awakened  a  few  days 
afterward,  among  the  cliief  Huguenots,  by  the 
announcement  of  Guise's  murder,  may  best  be 
learned  from  many  passages  in  Du  Plessis'  corres- 
pondence : — "  Sire,"  he  writes  to  his  royal  master, 
immediately  on  receiving  the  news,  "  we  have  to 
praise  God;  his  judgments  are  great,  and  the 
grace  which  he  has  vouchsafed  to  us  is  not  small 
in  thus  avenging  you  on  your  enemies,  without  any 
defilement  of  your  own  hands.  The  Church  will 
publicly  acknowledge  this  act  of  Providence,  but 
with  all  requisite  moderation,  rather  in  humility  than 
in  rejoicing."*  In  a  similar  strain,  when  writing  a 
few  days  afterward  to  Beza,  he  congratulates  him 
"  that  in  this  great  blow  the  Huguenots  had  not 
participatedeither  in  thought  or  deed."f  "  That  for 
which  I  consider  Our  prince  to  be  most  bound  to 
praise  God,"  he  states  to  another  friend,  "is,  that 
through  God's  means  his  enemies  are  removed, 
without  stain  either  to  his  hands  or  to  his  con- 
science."! But  to  no  one  did  Du  Plessis  more  fully 
express  himself  on  this  subject  than  to  La  None  : — 
"  By  this  blow  the  wicked  hath  fallen  into  the  pit 
which  he  himself  had  dug  for  us,  and  wiliiout  out 
having  spread  any  snare  for  him.  God's  blessing  is 
great,  by  which  we  are  disencumbered  from  our  ene- 
mies ;  but  it  is  far  greater  by  having  been  dispensed 
in  such  a  manner  that  our  passions  have. not  been 
employed  as  instruments  ;  that  our  hands  have  not. 
been  polluted  with  blood,  our  hearts  with  vengeance, 
nor  our  consciences  with  perfidy."^ 

tant  forains  que  liomestiqncs  ;"  and  he  foretels  that  "  il  s'y  consolidera 
beaucoup  deplayes  publiques,  beaucoup  de  particulieres,"  torn.  iv.  p.  271. 
He  appears  to  have  been  well  satisfied  also  with  the  results.  "  Nostre 
assernblfee  s'est  pass6e  fort  doulccmtnt ;  beaucoup  de  bonnes  cboses  y 
ont  est^  rcsoleues,"  .i  M  de  Pnjolz,  Dec.  29,  torn.  iv.  p.  283 ;  and  he 
employs  much  the  saine  language  to  Beza,  p.  284,  and  to  Roche-Chandieu, 
p.  293. 

*  Dec.  2(5,  torn.  iv.  p.  277. 

t  "  Nous  n'y  avons  tremp6  n  il'ame  ni  la  main." — It/id, 

i  dM.de  Reaux.     Ibid.  p.  285. 

^  Ibid.  p.  291. 


22-6  TREATY    BETWEEN  [cH.  XVI. 

It  may  be  wished,  perhaps — assuredly  it  must  be 
wished — by  all  who  feel  the  influence  of  well  regu- 
lated piety,  that  this  foul  murder  had  been  ascribed 
less  immediately  to  the  agency  of  Providence  than  it 
appears  to  be  in  some  of  the  above  expressions  ;  we 
say  appears,  because  the  mistake,  after  all,  is  more 
verbal  than  real.  In  his  vivid  thankfulness  that  his 
friends  are  innocent  of  the  deed  of  blood,  Du  Plessis 
no  doubt  sufficiently  conveys  his  full  and  just  appre- 
ciation of  its  atrocious  guilt ;  and  it  is  only  by  that 
process  which  the  logicians  term  an  enthymeme, 
that  he  seemingly  confounds  a  crime  which  it  is 
manifest  he  abhors  in  itself,  with  the  ultimate  good 
which  he  foresees  will  be  deduced  from  it  by  the 
sovereignty  of  infinite  wisdom.  When  we  call  to 
mind  the  bitterness  of  persecution  which  the  Hugue- 
not church  had  endured  from  two  generations  of  the 
Guises,  the  tone  which  Du  Plessis  has  adopted  falls 
upon  the  ear  in  very  grateful  contrast  with  the  yell 
of  savage  triumph  by  which  the  partisans  of  the  op- 
posite faction  celebrated  the  St.  Bartholomew.  The 
miserable  distraction  of  his  own  family  at  this  period 
offers  ample  testimony  of  the  domestic  wretchedness 
which  the  Reformed  underwent  during  these  unna- 
tural wars.  "  My  brother  and  his  wife,"  he  writes 
to  a  friend,  "  are  chased  from  home,  and  their  house 
is  occupied  by  a  leaguer ;  my  mother  has  taken 
refuge  at  Dieppe ;  my  mother-in-law  has  been 
cruelly  pillaged  in  Brie  ;  and  her  son  has  lost  his 
entire  property  on  the  capture  of  Melun."*  To 
speak  with  mildness  of  the  fate  of  enemies  by  whom 
calamities  such  as  these  were  occasioned  is  no  slight 
triumph  of  the  spirit  of  charity. 

The  Huguenot  arms  had  recently  been  successful 
in  Poitou  and  Saintonge,  and  the  strong  town  of 
Niorte  was  among  their  latest  acquisitions  ;  but  the 
victories  of  Henry  of  Navarre  were  checked  by  a 

*  March  12,  1589,  torn.  iv.  p.  341, 


A.  V.  1589. J  THE    TWO    KINGS.  227 

dangerous  illness  which  attacked  him  in  an  obscure 
village,  remote  from  medical  assistance.  The  dis- 
order was  pleurisy,  and  the  promptness  and  decision 
of  Du  Plessis,  who  on  his  own  judgment  had  re- 
course to  immediate  and  copious  blood-letting,  saved 
the  royal  patient  in  his  extremity.*  By  • 
the  same  minister  also,  in  conjunction  with  ^" 
JSully,  was  prepared  a  treaty,  which  established  a 
truce  between  the  two  kings  lor  a  year,  and  engaged 
the  Huguenots  as  confederates  against  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne.  Its  provisions  were  few  and  simple.  The 
town  of  Saumur  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Na- 
varre, in  order  to  secure  his  passage  over  the  Loire  ; 
one  town  in  every  province  which  he  might  occupy 
was  reserved  to  him  as  a  military  depot ;  in  those 
places,  in  his  camp,  and  in  his  court,  the  Reformed 
were  allowed  to  celebrate  free  and  public  worship ; 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom  they  were  to 
remain  unmolested.!  In  no  portion  of  his  whole 
eventful  history  was  courage  of  a  higher  moral 
standard  displayed  by  the  King  of  Navarre  than 
during  this  negotiation.  While  the  terms  were  still 
in  discussion,  Henry  III.  refused  to  communicate 
otherwise  than  verbally,  lest  written  documents 
should  be  intercepted  by  the  nuncio  Morosini,  or 
by  the  Duke  de  Nevers.  Some  distrust  was  natu- 
rally excited  in  Navarre  by  this  backwardness  ;  and 
he  asked  repeatedly,  in  an  anxious  tone,  and  rubbing 
his  forehead,  if  Sully  believed  in  the  king's  good 
faith.  On  receiving  the  wished  for  assurance,  he  un- 
hesitatingly ordered  him  to  return  ;  "  and  you,"  he 
continued,  "  shall  bear  letters  from  me,  for  /  am 
afraid  neither  of  Morosini  nor  of  Nevers. "| 


•  Tom.  iv.  p.  310. 

t  Ibid.  p.  351.  See  also  a  maniTesto  by  the  King  of  Navarre,  April  21, 
ibid.  p.  .356. 

t  Sully,  ton),  i.  liv.  iii.  p.  221,223.  Perhaps  both  truth  and  nature 
would  be  gainers  by  a  less  dignified  version  than  that  given  above  of  tbe 
words  sc  graitant  la  lite. 


228  INTERVIEW  OF  THE  TWO  KINGS      [CH. 'XVI. 

When  an  interview  between  the  two  kings  was 
proposed  as  a  consolidation  of  this  new  alliance,  it 
was  but  natural  that  the  Huguenots  should  cast  a 
fearful  retrospect  upon  the  past  ;  and  the  review 
presented  little  in  the  character  of  Henry  HI.  which 
could  justify  confidence  in  his  sincerity.  Their  mis- 
givings were  silenced  by  the  unshrinking  heroism  of 
their  master.  On  his  route  to  Plessis-lez-Tours,  the 
spot  at  which  the  meeting  was  appointed,  he  halted 
his  little  troop  of  attendants  near  a  mill,  and  asked 
each  gentleman  in  turn  his  opinion  of  the  course  in 
which  he  was  theri  engaged.  Sully,  who  was  among 
them,  by  no  means  dissembled  the  peril ;  adding, 
that  he  thought  it  was  an  occasion  on  which,  after 
all  due  precaution  had  been  taken,  something  was 
to  be  trusted  to  fortune.  A  few  moments'  reflec- 
tion sufficed  for  Henry,  who  terminated  the  conver- 
sation by  pressing  his  horse  onward,  and  command- 
ing his  retinue  to  follow:  "  Come,  come,  my  friends," 
he  said,  "  my  resolution  is  taken,  and  we  must  not 
130   think  about  it  any  longer."*    The  two  kings 

^"  '  exchanged  salutations  in  the  park  at  Pies- 
sis  ;  and  so  great  was  the  throng  that  they  were 
obliged  to  remain  for  many  minutes  within  a  few 
paces  of  each  other  before  they  could  move  closely 
enough  to  embrace.  ^''Courage,  J\'Ionse2gneiir"  were 
among  Navarre's  first  words,  "  two  Henries  are 
worth  more  than  one  Carolus  !"t  After  ofi'ering 
and  receiving  many  expressions  of  friendship,  Na- 

*  Id.  ibid.  p.  226. 

t  Maliliieu,  torn,  i  p.  752.  It  is  scarcelj'  necessary  to  offer  an  explana- 
tion of  ihis  mot,  which  alludfs  to  the  coinage  of  France  and  to  Charles 
the  name  of  the  Duke  of  Maycnne.  Pierre  de  I'Etoile  refers  the  speech 
to  another  occasion,  and  assigns  it  to  Henry  111.;  who.  on  his  junction 
with  Navarre,  after  Tours  had  been  attacked,  being  reluctant  to  pursue 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  said  it  was  unreasonable,  liazarder  un  double 
Henri  cnnire  iin  Carnlus  ;  ii|ion  which  the  aimotalor  ohsen'es,  that  the 
Henri  was  a  piece  of  gold,  the  Carolus  one  of  copper,  torn.  ii.  p.  193.  It 
is  worthy  of  remark  how  greatly  the  words  are  chanped  in  character 
according  to  the  lips  from  which  they  are  made  to  proceed ;  when  spoken 
by  Navarre,  they  are  an  encouragement  to  action  ;  when  tranBferred  to 
Henry  III.  the    are  a.>i  excuse  for  ninaimng  inert. 


A.  D.    1589.]       AT   rLESSIS-LES-TOUKS.  229 

varre  recrossed  the  Loire,  and  fulfilled  the  promise 
which  the  jealous  apprehensions  of  his  followers 
had  extorted,  that  he  would  not  trust  himself  during 
the  night  in  the  entire  power  of  his  recent  enemy. 
On  the  following  morning  (animated  by  a  spirit  simi- 
lar to  that  by  which  Francis  I.  at  once  established  in- 
timate cordiality  with  his  brother  monarch  in  the 
memorable  Champ  de  Drop  d'Or),  Navarre,  attended 
by  a  single  page,  presented  himself  at  the  quarters  of 
Henry  III.  so  early  as  to  assist  at  his  levee.*  A 
token  of  confidence  thus  frank  and  unreserved  was 
wholly  irresistible ;  two  days  were  spent  in  discussing 
the  plan  of  the  approaching  campaign  ;  and  Navarre 
then  retired  to  hasten  the  advance  of  his  troops,  and 
to  dispel  any  reluctance  which  they  might  still  feel 
to  co-operate  with  the  Romanists.  On  the  evening 
after  his  first  interview,  he  wrote  to  Du  Plessis, 
"  The  ice  is  at  last  broken,  not  without  many  warn- 
ings that  if  I  hazarded  the  conference  I  was  no  bet- 
ter than  a  dead  man.  I  crossed  the  river,  however, 
after  having  commended  myself  to  God,  who  in  his 
goodness  hath  not  only  preserved  me,  but  has  occa- 
sioned an  appearance  of  extreme  joy  on  the  part  of 
the  king,  and  of  unparalleled  enthusiasm  on  that  of 
the  people.  There  were  shouts  of  Vivent  les  Roys, 
which  gladdened  my  heart  and  a  thousand  petty  inci- 
dents well  deserving  note.  Send  on  my  baggage, 
and  order  the  whole  army  to  advance.'"!  The  reply 
of  Du  Plessis  affords,  in  a  few  words,  the  fittest 
commentary  on  Henry's  magnanimity — "Sire,  you 
have  done  that  which  you  ought  to  have  done,  but 
which  no  one  ought  to  have  counselled  you  to  do. "J 

*  Perefixe,  p.  106.    DeThou,  xcv.  19. 

f  Avril  30,  15S9.   Du  Fauxbotirg  de  Tours  oit,  est  Ic  quarticr  de  nostre 
arm/'e.— Du  Plessis,  torn.  iv.  p.  355. 
{  Id.  torn.  i.  p.  175. 

Vol.  II.— U 


230 


ATTACK    ON    TOURS.  [cH.  XVII. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Attack  on  Tours — Battle  of  Senlis— Siege  of  Paris— Excommunication 
of  Henry  III. — Fanaticism  of  Jacques  Clement — Encouraged  by  the 
Leaguers — He  assassinates  Henry  III. — First  Steps  of  Henry  IV.  on 
his  Accession— Tlie  Siege  of  Paris  rai.sed— The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon 
proclaimed  Charlas  X. — Battle  of  Arques — Capture  of  the  Fauxbourga 
of  Pans — Views  of  the  King  of  Spain — Conduct  of  the  Legate — Violent 
Decree  of  the  Sorbonne — Battle  of  Yvry — Blockade  of  Paris — Death 
of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon — Famine  in  Paris — Military  Procession  of 
the  Clergy — The  Prince  of  Parma  relieves  Paris — His  subsequent  Re- 
treat— Rise  of  the  Tiers-Parti— Council  at  Mantes — Death  of  I.a  Nou6 
— Escape  of  the  Duke  of  Guise— Intrigues  of  the  Seize — Murder  of  the 
President  Brisson  and  two  Counsellors  avenged  by  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne — Siege  of  Rouen — Negotiation  of  Du  Plessis  with  Queen 
Elizabeth. 

During  Navarre's  absence,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
thought  to  surprise  the  king  in  Tours,  and  nearly 
succeeded  in  his  design.*  A  sharp  action 
'^^  '  vt^as  continued  during  a  whole  day,  much  to 
the  disadA^antage  of  the  royalists,  arid  Henry's  safety 
depended  upon  tlie  maintenance  of  a  bridge  which 
separated  the  city  from  its  suburbs,  at  that  time  in 
possession  of  the  Leaguers.  The  enemy  was  at 
length  repulsed  by  the  seasonable  arrival  of  a  rein- 
forcement of  Huguenots  ;  but  De  Thou,  who  was 
present  during  the  combat,  portrays  in  a  lively 
manner  the  great  hazard  and  sufferings  endured  by 
the  wretched  inhabitants  of  the  Fauxbourg  from 
which  the  attack  commenced.  While  revelling  in 
the  fierce  and  fiendish  license  of  successful  war,  the 
brutal  soldiery  of  the  League  defended  their  enor- 
mities by  affirming  that  every  act  was  venial  in 

*  A  martyrdom  occurred  in  Paris  two  days  before  this  attack:  "fut 
brulOe  toule  vive  en  Grdve  une  pauvre  fcniiiie  Hugucnotte  qui  ne  voulut 
jamaiij  «c  dedire." — JountrU  de  Henri  HL  torn.  li.  p.  190. 


A.  D.  1589.]      BATTLE  OF  SENLIS.  231 

those  who  fought  for  their  religion,  and  who  were 
supported  by  the  favour  of  the  pope.* 

In  another  quarter,  at  Senlis,  the  Leaguers  under 
Aiimale  were  totally  defeated,  chiefly  by  the  great 
skill  of  the  veteran  La  None,  who  allured  enemies 
much  superior  in  force  to  a  rash  attack,  in  which 
they  were  overwhelmed  by  masked  batteries.  Be- 
sides the  capture  of  numerous  prisoners,  nearly 
2000  dead  were  left  upon  the  field,1-  and  the  flight 
of  those  who  escaped  was  so  rapid  as  to  furnish 
material  for  a  standing  jest ;  "  the  long  spurs  of  the 
Leaguers  at  Senlis,"  becoming  almost  a  proverb. | 
Navarre,  however,  at  once  perceived  that  the  issue 
of  the  war  must  depend,  not  upon  detached  suc- 
cesses, however  brilliant,  in  the  provinces,  but  upon 
the  possession  of  the  capital.  The  generous  self- 
devotion  of  Nicolas  de  Harlay,  Sieur  de  Sancy,  had 
procured,  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  entire  private  for- 
tune, the  services  of  12,000  Swiss,  now  gathered 
under  the  banners  of  Henry  III.  ;  and  the  confede- 
rate army,  thus  increased  to  more  than  40,000  well- 
appointed  men,  invested  Paris  towards  the  close  of 

*  "  Cuncta  pcrmissa  accondonata  sibi  pro  Heligione  oortantibus,  et  Pon- 
tificis  graliA  frelis.'  xcv.  20.  The  acts  tlius  auihoriwd,  as  we  learn  from 
the  context,  were  robbery,  sacrilege,  and  violation  in  its  most  hideous 
forms,  before  the  eyes  of  parents  and  of  husbands.  Sully  also  was  pres- 
ent at  the  attack  on  Tours  which  he  describes,  loin.  i.  liv.  iii.  p.  228. 
t  Arnirault,  p.  342.     De  Thou,  xcv.  21. 

i  The  filth  compartment  in  the  hall  in  which  the  states  assembled  at 
Paris  IS  supposed,  in  the  Satyre  Menippie,  to  have  been  hung  with  tapes- 
try reprcsfiiiing  the  battle  of  Senlis,  "oii  M.  d'.\umale  fut  Connestable, 
ct  luy  estoirnt  bailler,  les  espurons  aislez  el  zelez."  torn.  i.  p.  20.  This 
tapestry  was  bordered  with  some  stanzas,  of  which  the  following  is  the 
parent  of  a  well-known  English  couplet : 

"  Souvent  celui  qui  demcure 
Est  cause  de  son  meschof ; 
Celui  qui  luit  de  bonne  heure 
Peul  comliattre  de  rechef." 

Spurs,  it  seems,  shaped  like  a  heron's  beak,  and  called  EspcroTis  Ligncz 
oti  Zelez,  had  been  invented  not  long  before  the  battle.  Rcmarques  sur 
la  Sat.  Men  torn.  ii.  p.  99.  When  the  herald  is  marshalling  the  depu- 
ties, he  addresses  Aumftle,  M.d'AumdIe,  mettez  vou.t  a  costi  du  Reve- 
rendissinins  (the  Cardinal  Pellevt)  et  gardez  de  dcschirer  sa  chape  avec 
vos  grands  rsjterons.  fnm.  i.  p.  28. 


232  HENRY  III.  EXCOMMUNICATED.        [CH.  XVn. 

July.  Notwithstanding  the  precautions  which  May- 
enne  had  adopted,  httle  hope  could  be  entertained  of 
any  protracted  resistance.  The  garrison  was  insuffi- 
cient for  the  great  extent  of  ramparts  which  required 
defence;  few  regular  troops  were  under  his  com- 
mand ;  and  the  half-trained  and  ill-disciplined  civic 
bands  which  had  fled  from  Senlis,  fierce,  headstrong, 
and  blood-thirsty  as  they  were  at  the  outbreak  of  a 
sedition,  were  far  from  being  adapted  to  afford  con- 
fidence to  their  general  during  that  slow  process  of 
regular  warfare,  which,  above  all  others,  puts  mili- 
tary virtues  to  the  severest  test. 

This  great  peril  of  the  Leaguers  was  averted  for  a 
season,  by  one  of  those  unexpected  strokes  of  for- 
tune which  baffle  calculation.  We  have  hitherto 
omitted  to  speak  of  the  effect  produced  in  the  papal 
court  by  the  announcement  of  the  events  at  Blois  ; 
and  much  time,  indeed,  elapsed  before  the  Vatican 
appears  to  have  determined  on  its  final  measures. 
The  blood  of  a  cardinal  was  not  lightly  to  be  ex- 
piated ;  nevertheless  the  politic  Sixtus  might  per- 
haps have  been  tempted  to  relax  his  severity,  when 
he  had  once  assured  himself  that  an  increase  of 
power  would  follow  the  absolution  of  the  penitent 
homicide,  if  he  had  not  been  yet  further  offended  by 
the  unnatural  alliance  concluded  with  heretics  already 
under  the  pontifical  ban.  No  sooner  had  he 
^^  ^'  learned  the  confederation  with  the  Hugue- 
nots, than  he  issued  a  fierce  monition,  demanding  the 
freedom  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  and  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Lyons,  within  ten  days.  In  default  of 
compliance  with  this  mandate,  Henry  was  declared 
subject  to  ecclesiastical  censures,  especially  to 
those  contained  in  the  bull.  In  Coend  Domini,  of 
which,  unless  in  the  very  article  of  death,  no  one 
except  the  pope  himself  could  grant  remission. 
Lastly,  the  king  was  cited  to  a  personal  appearance 
at  Rome  at  the  expiration  of  sixty  days. 

This  denouncement  of  papal  wrath  was,  perhaps, 


A.  D.  1589.]  JACQUES    CLEMENT.  233 

the  single  drop  required  to  swell  to  the  very  spring- 
tide of  phrensy  the  fanaticism  of  a  youthful  zealot 
who  undertook  to  despatch  the  king.  Jacques  Clem- 
ent, a  Dominican  of  Sens,  had  lent  a  greedy  ear  to 
the  general  execrations  which  proclaimed  Henry  de 
Valois  to  be  an  impious  and  a  Heaven-abandoned 
tyrant,  who,  after  the  model  of  Elizabeth  of  Eng- 
land, had  resolved  upon  the  suppression  Of  the  mo- 
nastic orders.*  While  brooding  over  these  dark 
imaginations  in  the  solitude  of  his  cell,  Clement 
believed  himself  to  be  the  object  of  a  beatific  vision, 
in  which  an  angel  presented  him  with  a  naked 
sword,  and  encouraged  him  to  attain  the  crown  of 
martyrdom,  by  using  it  for  the  dehverance  of  his 
church  and  country. f  His  prior,  to  whom  he  is 
said  to  have  revealed  this  dream,  is  described  to 
have  been  a  man  of  profound  knowledge  and  of  ex- 
tensive acquaintance  with  Scripture. J  In  such 
knowledge  as,  by  the  dexterous  use  of  sophistry, 
can  render  the  plainest  truths  entangled,  and  in  such 
acquaintance  with  Holy  Writ  as  can  cite  its  words 
to  justify  the  widest  deviation  from  its  spirit,  it  is 
manifest,  if  the  evidence  upon  which  he  was  after- 
ward convicted  be  true,  that  Father  Bourgoing  was 
indeed  no  mean  proficient.  He  is  said  to  have 
warned  his  penitent  that  God  had  strictly  forbidden 
all  murder ;  but  to  have  added  that,  since  the  king 
was  a  man  cut  off  and  separated  from  the  Church, 
the  author  of  execrable  tyrannies,  and  the  perpetual 
scourge  of  France,  he  could  not  but  think  that  any 
one  who  should  put  him  to  death  would  commit  a 
holy  and  commendable  act.  Thus  was  it,  he  ex- 
claimed, that  Holofernes  was  righteously  smitten  by 

*  De  Thou,  xcvi.  8. 

t  "  Discours  veritable  de  Testrange  et  subiie  mort  Je  Henry  de  Valois, 
adveniie  par  permission  divine  et  par  un  Religieux  de  I'Ordre  des  Jaco- 
bins." First  primed  in  1589,  reprinted  in  the  Preuves  de  La  Satyre 
Menipp^e,  torn.  iii.  p.  345. 

t  "  llomme  fortscieatifiqueetbien  vers6en  la  Saincte  Escriture." — W. 
p.  346. 

U8 


234  ASSASSINATION   OF  [CH.  XVII. 

Judith ;  and  sa  was  Israel  delivered  from  the  hand 
of  a  tyrant,  when  Pharaoh  was  swallowed  up  by  the 
returning  waves  of  the  Red  Sea.  To  the  chosen 
instrument  of  such  a  deed  eternal  happiness  might 
be  promised,  if  he  were  to  perish  during  its  execu- 
tion (a  circumstance  hot  unlikely  to  occur) ;  provided 
he  felt  assured  in  conscience  that  he  was  actuated 
by  a  pure  and  honest  zeal,  with  which  was  mingled 
no  evil  and  corrupt  affection,  no  defilement  of  avarice 
or  self-interest,  no  common  and  ordinary  motive. 

Thus  much  of  Jacques  Clement's  story  is  founded 
upon  legal  evidence.  The  fury  of  party  affirmed 
that  there  were  others,  of  loftier  station  than  Bour- 
going,  to  whom  he  intrusted  his  design  ;  and  that 
hopes  less  elevated,  although  not  less  impassioned, 
than  those  of  religious  zeal  prompted  him  eventually 
to  its  commission.  His  age  was  three-and-twenty  ; 
his  habits  were  libertine ;  the  personal  beauty  of  the 
Duchess  of  Montpensier  was  still  most  attractive  ;* 
and  it  has  been  said  that  she  considered  that  no 
promise,  no  compliance  on  her  part,  could  be  too 
high  a  price  for  the  prospect  of  revenge  upon  one 
by  whom  she  herself  had  been  exposed  to  contumely 
which  it  could  not  be  expected  a  woman  should  ever 
forgive  ;  and  who  had  imbued  his  hands  also  in  the 
blood  of  two  of  her  brothers.!  What  were  Clement's 
real  motives,  or  by  whose  secret  agency  he  was 
assisted,  cannot  now  be  unravelled;  but  he  had  ob- 
tained a  letter  of  credence  to  the  king,  purporting  to 

*  Notwithstanding  Iter  laiiieni^ss,  whicli  is  a  frequent  subject  of  con- 
temporary lampoon.  On  oneoftlie  pieces  of  tapestry  which  decorated  the 
hall  of  the  states-general  described  in  the  Satyre  Meniiiit/e,  she  is  repre- 
sented among  I'hafiton's  sisters,  "  dont  I'une  csloitroinpufi  une  hanche  en 
courant  pour  secourir  son  frere."  torn.  i.  p.  17.  See  also  Lcs  Ax-antures 
du  Baron  de  Fwneste,  liv.  iv.  c.  xiii. 

t  I)e  Thou,  xcvi.  8.  mentions  this  report,  but  evidently  without  at- 
taching credit  to  it.  Tlie  very  improbable  cause  of  the  inextinguishable 
personal  hatred  cherished  by  the  Uuchcss  of  Montpensier  against  Henry 
111.  may  be  found  in  the  Rtmarquca  snr  Ln  Sat.  Men.  toni.  ii.  p.  330. 
The  suspected  intmincy  of  the  duchess  with  her  nephew,  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  is  sarcastically  noticed  by  the  herald  who  arranges  the  order  of 
the  sittings  of  the  states-general  in  the  Satyre  Menippte,  torn.  i.  p.  87. 


A.  D.  1589.]  HENRY    III.  235 

be  written  by  the  President  Harlai,  at  that  time  con- 
fined in  the  Bastile  ;  and  feigning  an  important  mis- 
sion from  that  officer  and  his  feilow-prisoners,  he 
sought  and  obtained  an  audience. 

The  particulars  of  this  fatal  interview  are  minutely 
detailed  in  a  letter  written  by  M.  de  la  Guesle,*  the 
procureur-general  of  the  parliament,  who  introduced 
the  assassin  to  the  royal  presence.  On  the  previous 
night,  De  la  Guesle,  having  accidentally  learned  that 
Clement  wished  to  convey  intelligence  to  the  king, 
gave  him  lodgings  in  his  own  quarters  at  St.  Cloud ; 
the  answers  which  the  guest  returned  to  various 
questions  proposed  were  sufficiently  plausible  to 
confirm  full  belief  in  the  truth  of  his  general  state- 
ment ;  and  the  easiness  with  which  he  carried  him- 
self among  the  servants  to  whom  he  was  committed 
for  entertainment  rt-moved,  if  it  had  ever  crossed 
their  thoughts,  all  suspicion  of  evil  design.  He 
supped  gayly,  using  his  own  knife,  an  implement 
ordinarily  carried  by  monks,  and  therefore  not  ex- 
citing attention. t  Even  when  one  of  the  domestics 
noticed  a  report  that  six  brothers  of  his  order  had 
vowed  to  assassinate  the  king,  Clement  preserved 
an  unmoved  countenance,  and  replied,  in  an  indiffer- 
ent tone,  that  good  and  bad  men  were  everywhere 
mixed  together.  He  slept  so  peaceably  and  soundly 
that  it  was  necessary  to  wake  him  on  the 
following  morning,  when  he  was  to  accom-  "^'  ' 
pany  De  la  Guesle  to  court ;  and  on  arriving  at  the 
king's  residence,  he  conversed  freely  with  the  at- 
tendants in  waiting  till  it  was  announced  that  he 
might  enter  the  cabinet.  The  hour  was  early, 
scarcely  eight  o'clock  ;  and  Henry,  who  was  in  des- 
habille, deceived  by  the  close  resemblance  to  Har- 
lai's  writing  in  the  letter  which  had  been  presented 
to  him,  desired  the  monk  to  come  nearer,  in  order 

*  Ap.  Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  ii.  p.  220. 

t  "  TaUlant  sea  morceaux  du  riineste  coitteau,  meuble  ordinaire  de  tela 
oiseaux."— /bid.  p.  234. 


S3G  FIRST  MEASURES  OF  [cH.  XVII. 

that  he  might  hear  his  report.  Clement  replied 
that  what  he  had  to  say  required  his  majesty's  pri- 
vate ear ;  and  stooping  forward  as  the  king  motioned 
that  the  attendants  should  draw  off,  he  plunged  a 
knife  concealed  in  his  sleeve  into  the  lower  part  of 
the  king's  belly.  "  Ha  !  wretch,  what  have  I  done 
to  you  that  you  should  thus  murder  meV  was  the 
king's  exclamation,  as  he  withdrew  the  bloody  knife 
from  his  bowels,  and  dashed  it  in  the  assassin's  face. 
De  la  Guesle,  rushing  up  at  the  moment,  passed  his 
sword  to  the  hilt  through  Clement's  body  ;  and  the 
guards  of  the  chamber,  not  reflecting  that  confession 
would  be  important,  immediately  despatched  him 
with  their  halberds. 

The  surgeons  at  first  pronounced  that  the  king's 
wound  did  not  present  any  dangerous  symptom,  and 
Henry  himself  wrote  to  Du  Plessis,  expressing  full 
confidence  of  speedy  recovery.*  Navarre  was  en- 
gaged in  inspecting  the  preparations  for  the  siege  of 
Paris,  when  a  gentleman  whispered  the  intelligence 
in  his  ear :  he  rode  instantly  at  full  speed  to  St. 
Cloud  ;  and,  after  a  brief  interview,  retired  to  his 
own  quarters  at  Meudon.  While  Sully,  however, 
was  preparing  for  his  evening  repast,  he  was  sum- 
moned by  a  message,  "  that  the  King  of  Navarre, 
perhaps  the  King  of  France,  required  his  immediate 
presence."  An  express  had  arrived,  notifying  that 
Henry  was  in  extremitj'.  It  was  considerably  past 
midnight  when  the  party  returned  to  St.  Cloud  ;  and 
as  they  entered  the  chateau,  the  Scottish  guard  an- 
nounced the  important  fact  of  the  king's  death,!  by 
tendering  their  homage  to  Henry  IV.     His  measures 


**'Dieu — me  I'a  conserv^e  par  sa  grace— (aisaiit  glisscr  le  cousteau 
de  facon  que  ce  ne  sera  rieii,  s'll  lui  plaist,  et  que  dans  peu  de  jours  il  me 
doniiera  iiia  santc  premiere,"  -Uu  Plessis,  toiii.  iv.  p.  360. 

t  A  ceniflcate  of  tlie  devout  end  of  Henry  HI,  signed  by  the  grand 
prior,  the  Duke  d'Epernon,  Biron,  Bellegarde,  U'O.,  and  other  personages 
of  quality  in  attendance  on  liis  death-bed,  is  printed  in  the  Journal  de 
Henri  in.  torn.  ii.  p.  214.  lie  died  at  about  two  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  2d  of  August. 


A.  D.  1589.]  HENRY    IV.  237 

at  this  trying  moment  were  distinguished  by  wis- 
dom, promptitude,  and  dignity.  No  step  demanded 
by  the  unexpected  circumstances  appears  to  have 
been  either  forgotten  or  trodden  carelessly  ;  and  he 
could  scarcely  have  exhibited  greater  coolness  of 
judgment  and  fuller  self-possession,  if  (slightly  to 
vary  one  of  Du  Plessis'  phrases)  he  had  glided  into 
the  throne  in  the  ordinary  course  of  succession,  in- 
stead of  having  a  crown  cast  suddenly,  as  it  were,  on 
his  head.* 

On  the  announcement  of  the  late  king's  death,  the 
vigilance  and  activity  of  De  Sancy  at  once  secured 
the  continued  fidelity  of  the  Swiss  mercenaries  to 
Henry  IV. f  The  Marechal  de  Biron  declared  him- 
self, unconditionally,  in  his  favour ;  and  the  chief 
nobility  in  the  royal  army,  with  few  exceptions, 
swore  allegiance,  on  his  agreement  to  terms  which 
are  scarcely  to  be  thought  unreasonable.  He  prom- 
ised that  within  six  months  he  would  submit  to  be 
"instructed"  by  Romanist  divines — a  measure  which 
he  had  often  before  spontaneously  proposed ;  that 
in  the  mean  time  he  would  not  bestow  any  public 
charge  upon  a  Huguenot ;  and  that  he  would  permit 
his  new  adherents  to  send  a  deputation  to  the  pope 
explanatory  of  the  motives  of  their  present  conduct. 
One  other  proposal,  that  he  should  prohibit  the  exer- 
cise of  the  Reformed  religion,  was  rejected  by  him 
with  firmness.  The  most  important  dissentient  was 
D'Epernon,  who  notified  his  intention  of  withdraw- 
ing to  his  government  of  Saintonge.  Principally 
owing  to  the  secession  of  his  numerous  followers, 
the  army  became  too  weak  to  continue  the  siege  of 
Paris  ;  and  Henry,  after  protecting  Champagne  and 
Picardy  by  detachments,  withdrew  with 
the  main  body  into  Normandy,  in  order  "^"^ 
to  await  a  promised  aid  from  England.     The  obse- 

*  "  La  courotine  lui  est  plutost  tornb6e  sur  la  teste  qu'  eschue  paisi- 
blement."— Tom.  iv.  p.  402. 
t  DeThou.xcvii.S. 


238  WISE  ADVICE   OF 

quies  of  the  late  king,  which,  on  account  of  the  oc- 
cupation of  St.  Denis  by  the  Leaguers,  were  to  be 
performed  at  Compeigne,  afforded  an  honourable 
pretext  for  this  necessary  abandonment  of  the 
capital. 

During  this  most  eventful  period,  Du  Plessis  was 
confined  by  illness  at  Saumur ;  but  his  zeal  would 
not  permit  him  to  be  inactive,  and  the  advice  which 
he  proffered,  from  his  bed  of  pain,*  was  well  calcu- 
lated to  advance  his  master's  interests.  He  recom- 
mended a  declaration  which  might  quiet  the  alarm 
of  the  Romanists  by  an  assurance  that  there  was 
no  design  to  innovate ;  and  as  a  first  boon  to  the 
Huguenots  (well  knowing  the  importance  attached 
to  words)  he  urged  the  immediate  substitution,  in  all 
public  documents,  of  "  the  Religion  which  we  call, 
or  which  is  called,  Reformed,"!  instead  of  "  the  pre- 
tended Reformed  Religion."  His  precautions  seem 
to  have  been  mainly  directed  against  any  unseason- 
able ebullition  of  triumph  on  the  part  of  the  Hugue- 
nots ;  he  advised  that  the  governors  of  all  towns  in 
which  the  Reformed  worship  was  allowed  should  be 
instructed  more  than  ever  to  remember  moderation 
both  in  word  and  deed ;  to  repress  all  popular  inso- 
lence, and  to  cultivate  amity  and  union  with  tlie  Ro- 
manists, to  the  avoidance  of  scandal.  For  this  pur- 
pose, he  recommended  that  the  existing  ordinances 
enjoining  reverence  to  churches,  relics,  and  Divine 
service  should  be  observed  with  more  than  usual 
exactness  ;  and  he  thought  it  would  not  be  impolitic 
even  to  restore  the  mass  at  Niort,  and  at  other 
places,  in  which  its  use  had  been  suspended.  The 
course  which  he  advised  towards  Rome  was  that  of 
quiet  intimidation  ;  that  it  should  be  represented  to 

*  "  Au  inoins  que  mon  miserable  lict  ne  vous  soit  point  inutile,"  he 
writes  on  the  lOlli  of  AupusI,  torn.  iv.  p.  390,  probably  when  sending 
the3/»'mo?rf  (p,  393),  which  wc  have  noticed  in  the  text. 

t  "  I.a  Religion  quo  nous  disons  Reform^e,  ou  dicte  Reformte."  torn, 
iv,  p.  394.    This  distinction  was  a  source  of  long-continued  bickering. 


A.  0.  1589.]  DU  PLESSIS-MOUNAV.  239 

the  Vatican,  not  by  despatches,  but  by  word  of  mouth, 
through  fitting  agents,  that  it  niiglit  be  dangerous  to 
irritate  and  drive  to  despair  by  bulls  and  monitions 
those  whom  gentler  measures  might  perhaps  con- 
ciliate;  that  Henry  VIII.  had  been  thus  totally  alien- 
ated by  violence  ;  that  kings  chafe  under  restraint ; 
and  that  there  were  means  of  a  more  peaceful  nature 
by  which  schisms  might  be  extinguished. 

In  writing  to  Turenne,  the  same  wise  and  liberal 
statesman  showed  the  necessity  that  every  hand 
should  be  active  in  converting  the  present  crown  of 
thorns  into  a  crown  of  fleurs-de-lis.*  He  urged  the 
king  to  suppose  himself  dressed  in  a  new  doublet, 
which  would  sit  tightly  perhaps  at  first,  but  which 
would  become  easier  after  a  few  days'  wearing  ;t 
and  he  laid  down  a  golden  rule  foir  the  general  regu- 
lation of  his  conduct,  that  he  should  do  his  utmost 
to  gain  the  Catholics  without  losing  the  Huguenots.  J 
The  latter,  indeed,  were  already  beginning  to  ex- 
press dissatisfaction  ;  and  the  captiousness  of  their 
temper  may  be  inferred  from  one  leading  head  of 
complaint.  Was  it  not  monstrous,  they  said,  that 
in  the  first  official  document  of  a  Reformed  reign, 
words  so  altogether  popish  as  "  whom  God  ab- 
solve"^ should  be  admitted  after  the  name  of  the 
deceased  king  !  It  need  not  be  remarked,  that  the 
words  are  a  mere  form,  sanctioned  by  prescription  ; 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  that  they  are  more 
objectionable  (although  the  objection  is  of  a  different 
nature)  than  "  of  pious,  happy,  and  glorious  mem- 
ory," now  indiscriminately  attached  to  deceased 
Protestant  royalty.  So  far  did  discontent  among 
the  Huguenot  party  proceed,  that  rumours  were  cir- 

•  Tom.  iv.  p.  402,  Aug.  18.  t  Ihid.  p.  406.    Sept.  1. 

t  Ibid  p.  407. 

^  Ibid.  p.  409.  Que  nieu  ab.inlri^  Htyen  not  occur  in  Tlenry  IV.'s  own 
declaration,  from  wliicli  he  erased  the  words  with  his  own  hand.  {Ibid. 
p.  428.) 


240  CAPTURE  OF  THE  [cH.  XVII. 

culated  of  an  intention  to  elect  a  new  protector  of 
the  Reformed  churches,  in  heu  of  Henry.* 

The  announcement  of  the  king's  assassination  was 
received  in  Paris  with  transports  of  indecent  joy ; 
and  the  preachers  of  the  League  appear  to  have  vied 
with  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier  in  the  extrava- 
gance with  which  they  manifested  their  dehght. 
The  former,  in  their  sermons,  canonized  Jacques 
Clement  as  a  saint  and  a  martyr ;  the  latter  dis- 
tributed green  scarves,  as  emblems  of  mock  mourn- 
ing, among  the  chiefs  of  her  faction,|  who  had  worn 
black  for  the  catastrophe  at  Blois.  Every  voice  in 
the  capital  united  in  the  rejection  of  the  heretic  and 
the  Beamois ;  the  Spanish  ambassador,  Bernardino 
Mendoza,  lavished  promises  of  both  troops  and 
treasure,  if  Mayenne  would  continue  firm  in  his 
resolution  ;  and  the  duke,  after  a  few  days'  delibera- 
tion, refused  to  admit  any  overture  from  Henry,  and 
proclaimed  the  still  imprisoned  Cardinal  de  Bourbon 
king,  by  the  style  of  Charles  X. 

Hostilities  were  not  renewed  till  the  middle  of 
September,  for  Mayenne,  always  tardy  from  consti- 
tutional indolence,  had  now  become  more  so  from 
disease  ;  and  the  penetrating  judgment  of  Sixtus  V. 
foretold  his  discomfiture,  when  he  learned  that  the 
chief  of  the  League  sat  more  hours  at  table  than  the 
Bearnois  allowed  himself  in  bed.J  Henry,  indeed, 
by  the  skill  with  which  he  had  constructed  an  in- 
trenched camp  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dieppe, 
maintained  his  position  against  a  greatly  superior 
force  ;  and  in  one  of  a  series  of  combats, 

*'"  "  ■  after  a  perilous  day  at  Arques,  he  com- 
pletely routed  his  enemy,  and  opened  liis  own  path 
once  again  to  the  gates  of  Paris. §    The  Leaguers 

*  Ibid.  p.  420. 

t  "  I-c  dciiil  vrrd  qui  est  la  livrfee  des  foux." — Journal  de  Henri  HI, 
torn.  ii.  p.  210.  These  green  scarves  Airnish  perpetual  allusions  in  con- 
temporary writings. 

X  Pereiixe,  p.  13]. 

^  The  battle  of  Anjues  is  well  described  by  Sully,  torn.  i.  1.  iii.  p.  247, 


A.  D.  1589,]         FAUXBOUKGS  OF  PARIS.  241 

outnumbered  him  on  that  occasion  in  the  fearful 
proportion  of  ten  to  one  ;*  and  when  a  prisoner  of 
distinction,  taken  before  the  battle,  expressed  sur- 
prise at  the  few  soldiers  in  the  royal  camp,  Henry 
answered  by  remarking,  "  You  have  not  yet  seen  all 
my  forces ;  you  have  forgotten  to  reckon  into  your 
account  God  and  the  good  cause  which  are  on  my 
side."t 

The  Parisians  were  ill  prepared  for  the  attack 
upon  their  city  which  ensued ;  deceived  by  the 
vaunts  of  Mayenne  before  his  retreat,  and  by  the 
artifices  of  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier  after  he  had 
been  beaten,  they  confidently  expected  to  see  Henry 
dragged  in  chains  through  the  streets,  at  the  very 
moment  in  which  he  sat  down  under  their  walls  with 
a  very  formidable  army.  Reinforced  from  Picardy 
and  Champagne,  and  aided  by  4000  English  under 
Sir  Roger  Williams.;}:  who  had  landed  at  Dieppe,  he 
mastered  the  ten  fauxbourgs  by  a  brisk  assault,  kill- 
ing more  than  700  of  the  enemy  ;  and  would  have 
possessed  himself  of  the  whole  city,  if  his  artillery 
had  been  sufficiently  in  advance.^  It  was  not  till 
the  reappearance  of  Mayenne,  who  again  out- 
numbered him,  that  he  abandoned  his  conquests, 
after  four  days'  possession.  || 

On  withdrawing  to  Tours,  he  carried  with  him, 

and  by  Daniel,  torn.  vi.  p.  319.  from  a  relation  by  the  Comte  d'Auvergne 
(Charles  of  Valois,  afterward  Due  dWngoulesirie,  a  natural  son  of 
Charles  IX.)  who  materially  assisted  Henry. 

*  Henry  eoiiUI  oppose  only  3000  men  to  Maycnne's  30,000.  Sully,  ut 
syp.  Hence  in  the  tapestry  decorating  the  hall  of  a.ssembly  for  the 
stales,  m  the  Salt/re  Menipyce,  the  battle  is  called  tc  miracle  d' Argues, 
torn.  i.  p.  21.  It  was  after  this  engagement  that  Henry  wrote  the  memo- 
rable letter  to  Crillon.  "  Pends-toi  brave  t'rillon,  nous  avons  com- 
batlu  A  Arques,  et  tu  n'y  etois  pas.  Adieu,  brave  Crillon,  je  vous  aima 
A  tort  el  &  travers."— Sully,  toni.i.  I.  iii.  p.  250,  note.  Daniel,  in  his  history, 
has  given  an  engraved  plan  of  the  battle. 

t  Sully,  toni.  i.  1.  iii.  p.  248. 

I  De  Thou,  xcvii.  12. 

$  The  military  operations  of  Henry  IV.  from  his  accession  to  the  cap- 
ture of  the  faiixbourg.ii.  are  related  wiih  great  clearness  in  a  Discours 
drawn  up  bv  Uu  Plessis,  torn.  v.  p.  35. 

II  DeThou,  xcvlii.t?. 

Vol.  n.— X 


242  PROJECTS  OF  SPAIN.  [cH.  XVII. 

among  his  prisoners,  Bourgoing  the  prior  of  the 
Dominicans,  who  was  said  to  have  encouraged 
Jacques  Clement  in  hrS  project  of  regicide,  and  who 
was  now  taken,  sword  in  hand  and  cased  in  armour. 
The  unshrinking  fortitude  with  which  this  enthu- 
siast underwent  the  inhuman  punishment  to  which 
he  was  adjudged, amply  evinced  his  sincerity,  even 
if  it  failed  to  establish  his  innocence.* 

But  Mayenne,  although  in  possession  of  the  capi- 
tal, was  not  long  before  he  perceived  the  instability 
of  that  power  which  depends  upon  a  faction  for  its 
maintenance.  One  of  his  earliest  steps  was  to  dis- 
embarrass himself  from  the  council  of  union  ;  and 
for  that  purpose  he  declared,  that  as  lieutenant- 
general  of  Charles  X.,  it  was  only  to  the  royal 
council  that  he  could  now  look  for  advice.  The 
Seize  were  wholly  in  the  interests  of  the  King  of 
Spain,  who  for  the  present  veiled  his  ulterior  project 
upon  the  crown  itself,  by  asking  no  more  than  the 
honourable  title  of  Protector  of  the  Realm  of  France. 
Besides  the  strength  which  thus  accrued  to  Philip, 
he  found  powerful  support  from  the  legate  whom 
Sixtus  V.  had  at  length  been  induced  to  despatch  to 
France.  The  commission  delivered  to  Caietano, 
the  cardinal  selected  for  that  important  office,  pre- 
scribed a  strict  neutrality ;  he  was  to  watch  over 
the  election  of  a  king,  if  the  phantom  Charles  X. 
were   set  aside,  without    regard  to  the  temporal 

*  hi.  ibid.  That  Ronrgoing  liad  preadied  in  terms  laudatory  of  the 
regicide  after  its  oornrniltal  was  a  matter  of  notoriety  ;  blithe  denied  to 
Ihe  last  tlie  testimony  upon  which  he  was  convicted  of  having  been 
privy  to  .Jacques  element's  intention.  The  impression  to  be  derived 
from  the  accounts  both  of  I)e  Thou  and  of  Cayet  (C/iron.  Nov.  torn.  i. 
p.  228)  is  strongly  in  his  favour.  In  the  Rcmar(!ucs  svr  La  Sntyre 
Merf,ippee,lom.  li.  p.  1 11,  reference  is  made  to  Mezcniy,  as  furnishing  a 
complete  proof  of  Bourgoing's  guilt  from  his  dying  words.  Mezcray, 
however,  docs  no  more  than  repeat  Cayet's  notice  of  a  reply  to  the  Grcf- 
jftcr,  who,  when  Ihe  sufferer  was  already  fastened  to  the  horses,  perse- 
cuted him  by  continuing  to  urge  confession.  The  words  which  Bour- 
going then  emploved,  "I  have  done  as  much  as  I  could,  not  as  much  as 
1  wished,"  may  "be  variously  interpreted,  and  certainly  are  not  to  be 
cited  as  a  i>reuve  enticre  of  guilt.    Grande  Wi.<'.  torn.  iii.  p.  864. 


A.  D.  1590. J       THEXEGATE  CAIETANO.  243 

claims  of  any  of  the  pretenders  ;  he  was  not  openly 
to  repulse  the  King  of  Navarre,  so  long  as  there  ap- 
peared any  hope  of  his  conversion  ;  and  he  was  not 
further  to  meddle  with  the  national  choice  than 
might  secure  the  fidelity  of  the  monarch  upon  whom 
that  choice  should  fall,  to  the  apostolical  see. 

Far  from  obeying  these  wise  instructions,  no 
sooner  did  Caietano  set  foot  in  Paris  than  he  avowed 
himself  a  zealous  partisan  of  the  League  and  of  the 
Spaniards.  He  was  received  with  much 
parade ;  and  he  would  willingly  have  dis-  j^^^-^ 
pensed  with  some  of  those  evidences  by 
which  the  populace  testified  joy  on  his  arrival. 
The  provost  of  the  merchants,  accompanied  by 
10,000  bourgeois,  awaited  his  carriage  in  the  Faux- 
bourg  St.  .lacques ;  and  the  terrified  cardinal  was 
conveyed  to  his  hotel  amid  repeated  salvoes  of  mus- 
ketry, from  which  he  in  vain  sought  to  escape. 
He  had  heard  beforehand  evil  reports  of  the  mal- 
adroitness  of  the  civic  bands  in  their  military  train- 
ing ;  and  he  did  not  feel  altogether  secure  that  some 
disguised  Politique,  mingling  with  the  crowd,  might 
not  profit  by  the  opportunity  to  discharge  a  bullet. 
Trembling  with  fear  of  assassination  either  by  an 
awkward  friend  or  a  concealed  enemy,  he  motioned 
repeatedly  with  his  hands,  in  the  hope  of  terminat- 
ing these  unwelcome  testimonies  of  honour.  But 
the  sign  was  mistaken  for  a  benediction ;  and  the 
rabble,  more  than  ever  anxious  to  evince  gratitude 
in  return,  charged  and  recharged  their  pieces,  and 
deafened  the  exhausted  prelate  with  the  frequency 
and  the  closeness  of  their  explosions,  till  he  arrived 
at  his  residence.* 

Tlie  legate  soon  discovered  that  it  was  hopeless 
to  expect  unanimity  respecting  the  chief  objects  of 
his  mission.  Contenting  himself  therefore  with  the 
support  of  the  several  parties  in  that  one  point  on 

♦  Le  Grain.    Decade  de  Henry  te  Grand,  liv.  iv.  p.  359. 


244        DECREE  OF  THE  SORBONNE.    [CH.  XVII, 

which  they  all  professed  agreement,  he  obtained  a 
decree  from  the  Sorbonne,  exceeding  in  violence 
any  former  declaration  which  that  learned  body  had 
produced.  It  proclaimed  not  only  that  all  persons 
were  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  and  exposed  to  damna- 
tion, who  should  recognise  Henry  of  Bourbon  as 
king  ;  but  it  included  in  the  same  spiritual  category 
every  one  who  should  not  avow  that  he  abhorred 
the  following  propositions  :  1st,  that  Henry  of  Bour- 
bon may  or  can  be  acknowledged  king ;  2dly,  that 
conscience  permits  obedience  to  him  and  payment 
of  his  imposts ;  3dly,  that  it  is  not  contrary  to  re- 
ligion to  acknowledge  him,  provided  he  becomes  a 
Catholic  ;  4thly,  that  the  crown  of  France  may  pass 
to  a  relapsed  and  excommunicated  heretic,  if  his 
right  in  other  points  be  legitimate ;  5thly,  that  the 
pope  has  not  the  power  of  excommunrcating  kings  ; 
6thly,  that  it  is  allowable,  and  even  necessary,  to 
treat  with  the  Beamois  and  his  heretics.  To  so 
great  an  extent  did  the  preachers  advance  in  their 
profane  virulence,  that  they  not  only  denied  the 
authority  of  the  pope  to  absolve  Henry  if  he  should 
be  converted,  but  even  the  power  of  God  to  effect 
that  conversion.* 

Fortunately  for  the  Reformed  Church,  it  was  by 
the  sword,  not  by  parchments  nor  by  preachings, 
that  the  succession  was  to  be  established  ;  and  in  the 
commencement  of  the  spring  campaign,  Henry  was 
again  splendidly  triumphant.  On  the  military  events 
which  marked  the  winter,  and  which  at  length 
brought  the  armies  of  the  king  and  of  the 
League  in  contact  on  the  plain  of  Yvry,  it 

*  Remarqnes  sur  la  Satyre  ilenippre,  torn.  ii.  128.  These  positions 
are  admirably  ridiculed  in  the  speech  attributed  in  that  satire  to  the 
Duke  of  Mayennc.  "  Toutefois  M.  de  I.yon  el  nos  bons  Predicsteurs 
m'ont  apris  qu'il  n'est  pas  en  la  puissance  dc  Dieu.  de  pardonner  d  im 
Herctique  reiaps,  et  que  le  Pape  mesme  nc  scauroit  lui  donner  abso- 
lution, fust-ce  ii  I'article  ile  la  mort :  cc  que  nous  devions  lenir  pour 
treiziesme  Article  de  I'oy.  et  adjoustcr  au  Symbole  dcs  Aposlres  :  voir 
que  si  le  Pape  s'cn  vouloit  mcslcr,  nous  le  ferions  exconimunier  luy- 
mesme  par  nosire  mere  la  .Sorbonne,  qui  scait  plus  de  Latin,  et  boit  plas 
Catlioliquement  que  Ic  Consistoire  de  Rome."  toni.  i.  p.  iCt 


A.  D.   1590.]  BATTLE  OF  YVRV.  246 

is  needless  that  we  should  dwell ;  and,  except  on  one 
or  two  of  the  memorable  incidents  of  that  great  bat- 
tle which  have  passed  into  historical  proverbs,  we 
shall  be  equally  silent.  Mayenne,  as  before,  was 
much  superior  in  numbers ;  his  force,  including  a 
band  of  Hispano-belgic  auxiliaries,  under  the  Count 
D'Egmont,  exceeded  19,000  men:*  that  of  Henry- 
was  little  more  than  10,000.  While  the  king 
buckled  on  his  helmet,  he  addressed  a.  few  words  to 
the  squadron  in  immediate  attendance  on  his  person, 
marking  a  pear-tree  on  the  right  of  the  field  as  a 
rallying  point,  if  their  ranks  should  be  broken  ;  and 
adding,  "  If  you  lose  sight  of  your  standard,  bear  my 
white  plumes  in  view  ;  they  will  ever  be  found  in  the 
path  of  honour  and  of  duty  !"  The  caution  was  not 
unnecessary  ;  for  the  main  struggle  ensued  with  his 
own  division,  the  chief  captains  of  which  fought 
hand  to  hand  with  the  enemy.  At  one  moment,  the 
royal  standard  disappeared  ;t  but  the  white  plumes 
were  still  in  front,  and  the  personal  valour  of  Henry, 
ably  seconded  by  his  nobles,  succeeded  in  over- 
throwing the  1300  lancers,  whose  fierce  shock  had 
nearly  "  prostrated  France. "J  As  the  cavalry  of 
the  League  gave  way,  their  Swiss  also  threw  down 
their  arms ;  and  the  fury  of  pursuit  fell  chiefly  on  the 
Reisters  and  Lansquenets,  most  of  whom  were  cut  to 
pieces,  when  the  ominous  cry  arose,  "  Spare  the 
French,  but  down  with  the  foreigners  !"  The  Count 
D'Egmont  was  among  the  slain.  Mayenne,  who 
escaped  by  swimming  his.  horse  across  the  river 
Eure,'^  at  the  end  of  the  day  could  rally  no  more 

*  Du  Plessis,  Mim.  de  la  Battaille  d'lvry,  torn.  iv.  p.  473. 

t  Id.  ihid. 

X  Sully,  lom.  i.  I.  iii.  au_fin- 

^  He  rode  at  full  speed  to  Mantes,  and,  finding  the  gates  shut,  entered 
by  a  wicket,  an  adventure  which  is  remembered  in  the  tapestry  of  the 
hall  of  the  stales.  "U  y  fasoit  beau  voir  .M.  le  Lieutenant  maudinsant 
le  dernier,  s'encourir  sur  un  cheval  Turc,  pour  prendre  Manie  par  lo 
guiohet,  ct  dire  aux  hahitansen  note  basse  et  courle  haleine,  '  Mos  amis, 
sauvez  moy  et  mes  gens  :  tout  est  perdu,  mais  le  Biarnoia  est  mort  I'" 
— Sat.  Men.  torn.  i.  p.  22. 

X2 


246  BLOCKADE  OF  PARIS.  [cH.  XVII. 

than  4000  followers.  All  the  materiel  of  his  army 
was  captured  by  the  victors,  and  not  the  least  glo- 
rious trophy,  the  standard  of  the  Guises  (a  white 
pennon  semee  with  black  fleurs-de-lis)  became  the 
prize  of  Sully.  That  gallant  soldier  had  been 
wounded  in  five  different  places,  and  lay  senseless 
on  the  ground,  after  having  had  a  horse  killed  under 
him  in  each  of  the  first  two  charges.  On  recovering 
from  his  trance,  he  avoided  the  attack  of  a  lancer  by 
mounting  a  tree,  amid  the  boughs  of  which  he  con- 
trived to  parry  his  thrusts.  Without  a  helmet,  with 
his  body-armour  shattered,  exhausted  from  loss  of 
blood,  and  scarcely  able  to  balance  himself  on  a 
sorry  horse  which  he  had  purchased  on  the  field,  he 
was  slowly  retiring  to  his  quarters  after  escaping 
these  great  perils,  when  seven  fresh  enemies  ap- 
peared in  sight.  But  his  alarm  was  speedily  re- 
lieved. Four  of  these  cavaliers,  after  briefly  stating 
the  event  of  the  battle,  declared  themselves  his 
prisoners,  and  surrendered  their  standard.  The 
three  others,  no  less  personages  than  the  Sieurs  de 
Tremont  and  D'Aumale,  and  the  Duke  de  Nevers, 
relied  on  the  freshness  of  their  horses,  and  bidding 
adieu  to  their  less  fortunate  comrades,  galloped  on- 
wards and  escaped.  Biron  appears  to  have  been  the 
single  royalist  of  note  who  was  not  engaged.  He 
commanded  a  reserve  ;  and  when  he  congratulated 
Henry  after  the  action,  he  employed  words  which 
have  been  often  repeated :  "  Sire,  we  have  this  day 
exchanged  parts ;  you  have  done  that  which  would 
have  become  Biron,  I  have  done  that  which  be- 
longed to  the  king."* 

Many  weeks  elapsed  between  the  victory  of  Yvry 
and  the  reinvestment  of  Paris.  Whether  dissen- 
sions in  Henry's  councils  occasioned  this  unex- 
pected delay,  or  whether  his  anxiety  to  avoid  the 
chance  of  exposing  his  capital  to  an  assault  which 

*  Pereflxe,  p.  144. 


A.  D.  1590.]         CARDINAL  OF  BOURBON  DIES.  247 

might  level  it  with  the  dust,  induced  him  to  pause, 
appears  doubtful ;  but  the  tardiness  of  his  movements 
contributed  greatly  to  revive  the  drooping  courage 
of  the  citizens,  and  gave  the  preachers  of  the  league 
ample  time  to  awaken  among  the  populace  an  inex- 
tinguishable enthusiasm.  When  the  blockade  com- 
menced in  May,  the  city,  although  feebly  garrisoned, 
had  been  sufficiently  fortified  to  render  any  attempt 
at  storm  most  hazardous ;  and  it  was  upon  the  slow 
process  of  famine  among  -230,000  souls,  wholly  de- 
pendent upon  the  supplies  already  accumulated 
within  the  walls,  that  the  besiegers  relied  for  suc- 
cess.* The  death  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  which 
occurred  about  the  commencement  of  the 
blockade,  appears  to  have  produced  little  ™">'^- 
sensation,  even  among  those  who  had  acknowledged 
him  as  king.f  The  leaguers  by  his  demise  were 
left,  indeed,  without  a  nominal  sovereign  ;  but  they 
had  hitherto  struggled  far  more  to  overthrow  the 
pretensions  of  Henry  than  to  maintain  those  of  his 
specific  rival ;  and,  provided  the  crown  could  be 
saved  from  the  immediate  grasp  of  a  heretic,  they 
were  well  contend  to  postpone  its  ultimate  allotment 
almost  indefinitely. 

It  would  be  needlessly  painful  if  we  were  to  dwell 
upon  the   miseries   suffered,  during   four   months' 


*  An  attack  upon  ttic  fauxbourgs  at  the  commencement  of  this  siege 
is  finely  described  by  Sully,  tom.  ii.  I.  iv.  p.  14.  He  was  still  disabled 
and  on  crutches,  in  consequence  of  the  wounds  received  at  Yvry ;  and 
Henry,  who  was  attended,  not  only  by  a  brilliant  statT.  and  many  other 
wounded  officers,  maix  encore  de  lovs  les  vieillards  ct  dc  gens  de  robe  ct 
<i«  p/ume,  invited  his  faithful  servant  to  take  a  place  by  his  side  at  a 
window  of  the  Abbey  of  Montmarte,  which  cotiimandcd  the  eng.igenient. 

t  He  was  allowed  to  languish  in  miserable  poverty.  When  the 
advocate-general  of  the  league  presented  a  petition  to  the  council, 
requesting  the  allotment  of  a  pension,  which  might  enable  the  noiriinal 
king  to  support  his  diiinity,  he  was  gravely  rebuked  by  the  president  for 
soliciting  that  which  the  prince  was  entitled  to  command  from  his  sub- 
jects. Nevertheless,  it  was  answered  that  the  state  of  the  treasury 
would  not  allow  the  grant  of  a  pension,  but  that  the  league  would 
endeavour  to  obtain  a  restoration  of  the  benefices  of  which  the  cardmal 
bad  been  deprived.    Remarques  sur  la  Sat.  Meyi.  tom.  it  p.  339. 


248  PROCESSION  OF  [CH.  XVII. 

blockade,  by  a  city  the  supplies  of  which  were  cal- 
culated for  its  support  tlirough  not  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  that  period.  When  provisions  began  to  fail, 
the  Spanish  ambassador  distributed  his  useless  pis- 
toles among  the  starving  population ;  the  Sorbonne 
renewed  its  late  ferocious  decree  ;  and  the  ecclesi- 
astics arrayed  processions,  as  so  many  expedients 
by  which  men's  minds  might  be  diverted  from 
"""^  ■  the  direct  contemplation  of  the  present  evils. 
The  anomalous  character  of  the  times  is  vividly 
illustrated  by  an  account  remaining  to  us  of  an  extra- 
ordinary muster,  in  which  the  priests,  forgetting 
their  calling  as  messengers  of  peace,  adopted  a  mili- 
tary costume,  and  marshalled  themselves  in  arms. 
At  the  head  of  a  spiritual  regiment  of  1300  follow- 
ers appeared  Roze,  bishop  of  Senlis,  as  generalis- 
simo— or,  as  he  himself  loved  to  be  called,  like  one 
of  the  Maccabees — bearing  in  his  right  hand  a  hal- 
berd, in  his  left  a  crucifix.  His  chief  supporters 
were  Hamilton,  a  Scotchman,  the  cure  of  St.  Co- 
sine, who  acted  as  serjeant-major,  and  a  lame  monk, 
named  Bernard  de  Montgaillard,  better  known  as 
Le  Petit  FeiiiUant*  who  appeared  now  in  front,  now 
in  rear  of  the  column,  flourishing  round  his  head  a 
formidable  two-handed  sword,  and  distinguishing 
himself  by  the  agility  of  his  evolutions.  Behind 
marched  six  motley  battalions,  composed  of  Feuil- 
lans,  Capucins,  Minimes,  Cordeliers,  Jacobins,  and 
Carmelites,  four  abreast,  and  officered  by  their  supe- 
riors, who  mimicked  the  fierce  gestures  of  the  camp. 
Some  were  armed  cap-a-pie,  others  with  a  cuirass 
or  a  headpiece,  as  each  was  able  to  provide  himself 
with  harness ;  and  in  order  more  completely  to 
exhibit  their  warlike  furniture,  they  tucked  up  their 
frocks,  and  threw  back  their  cowls.     Pikes,  swords, 

*  So  called,  not  from  any  diminutiveness  of  size,  but  because  he 
distinijiiishi'd  lumselCby  tiis  pulpit  elo(jiience  at  the  precocious  age  of  20. 
A  very  full  account  of  this  fanatic,  abridged  from  a  printed  Life,  may  be 
found  in  the  Remarques  sur  la  Satyre  Menippce,  torn.  ii.  p.  57,  dtc. 


A.  D.    1590.]  THE  ECCLESIASTICS.  249 

partisans,  and  muskets  glittered  on  their  shoulders ; 
and  they  traversed  the  streets,  chanting  psalms  and 
hymns,  and  discharging  their  firearms  at  intervals 
as  they  passed  the  houses  of  any  of  the  Seize*  The 
legate  authorized  this  strange  show  by  his  presence  ; 
and  the  fears  which  he  had  expressed  during  the 
procession  which  celebrated  his  arrival  were  now 
too  truly  realized,  when  a  ball,  fired  by  one  of  the 
military  novices,  killed  his  almoner,  who  sat  in  the 
carriage  by  his  side.f  No  further  warning  was  re- 
quisite to  speed  the  flight  of  Caietano  from  the 
scene  of  danger ;  but  the  accident  was  turned  to 
good  account  by  its  authors ;  and  it  was  affirmed 
that  the  soul  of  the  deceased  priest  was  immedi- 
ately conveyed  to  paradise,  as  a  reward  for  having 
perished  while  assisting  in  tliis  labour  of  love. 

The  ridicule  of  this  most  indecorous  exhibition  did 
not  escape  tiie  satirists  of  the  opposite  party :  and 
the  principal  incidents  attending  it  have  been  trans- 
ferred, with  very  slight  exaggeration,  to  an  imagi- 
nary procession  of  the  league,  represented  to  have 
taken  place  at  the  opening  of  the  subsequent  as- 
sembly of  the  states-general  in  Paris.  Perhaps  no 
stronger  evidence  can  be  afforded  of  the  absurdity 
of  this  masquerade  than  that  which  may  be  derived 
from  a  comparison  of  the  grave  narrative  of  De 
Thou  with  the  avowedly  ironical  account  in  the 
Satyre  Menippee.  It  may  be  honestly  averred  that 
the  serious  relation  is  by  no  means  the  least  comic 
of  the  two. 4 

*  "Quand  ils  passoient  devantlelogisdeqnelqueMylord  Serze,  comrue 
font  les  gentils  Soldats  devaiit  les  portes  de  leurs  maitresses."— Le 
Grain  Decade  de  Henri  IV.  liv.  v.  p.  449. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  lom.  i.  p.  52.  Cayet  calls  the  wounded  man 
a  secretary  ;  Le  Grain  says,  two  valel8  were  "  mal  troiciez  aux  ossais 
de  ces  nouveauxharijuebusiers." 

t  Take,  tor  instance,  De  Ttiou's  representation  of  the  monkish  offi- 
cers: "  Seniores  primi  incedebant,  torvo  vulf.ii,  rubc.ntibus  oculis,  aprug- 
nis  dentibiis,  totoquc  corporis  gestu  minas  et  iniUlarom  fastum  scenicA 
simulatione  referentcs."  Again,  Le  Petit  FMillant  appears  more  ridicu- 
lous in  De  Thou's  sedate  and  eustained  description  than  even  under 


250  FAMINE  IN  PARIS.  [cH.  XVII. 

To  the  professed  histories  of  the  time  we  must 
refer  for  details  of  the  horrible  sufterings  to  which 
the  Parisians  were  exposed  by  the  unparalleled  ob- 
stinacy of  their  resistance ;  for,  although  the  inci- 
dents of  this  war  must  be  borne  in  view,  in  order  to 
render  our  story  intelligible,  they  may  be  amply 
learned  from  innumerable  other  sources,  and  they  by 
no  means  belong  to  the  foreground  of  our  picture. 
It  is  said  that  thirteen  thousand  souls  perished  by 
absolute  destitution ;  and  yet,  even  during  this  ex- 
tremity, but  few  signs  of  discontent  were  manifested, 
and  it  was  not  often,  nor  from  many  lips,  that  the 
cries  of  Pain  ou  Paix  were  uttered.*  Moved  by 
pity,  exhausted  by  the  lingering  nature  of  the  ser- 
vice, or  failing  in  discipline,  the  besiegers  at  length 
relaxed  their  vigilance.  The  king,  without  resources 
from  which  the  long  arrears  of  pay  could  be  dis- 
charged, was  compelled  to  allow  his  troops  to  profit 
by  the  distress  of  the  citizens ;  and  large  supplies 
were  stealthily  smuggled  within  the  walls  by  the 
very  hands  professedly  engaged  for  their  reduction. 
To  the  necessities  of  Henry,  rather  than  to  any  mis- 
taken clemency,  must  be  ascribed  the  conduct  by 
which  his  enterprise  was  frustrated,  and  which  has 
been  the  theme  of  much  indiscriminating  eulogy. 
It  was  not  possible  to  check  the  cupidity  or  to  disap- 

the  playful  touches  of  Pierre  le  Roy.  "Omnium  oculos  in  se  converte- 
bat  Bernardus  e  FolicenoOrdine,  ndluio  juvenis,  qui  allcropede  claurtus, 
nusquam  certo  loco  consislens,  sed  hue  illuc  cursitans,  modo  in  fronte,  mo- 
do  in  agininis  tcrj;o,  latum  ensem  ambabus  manibus  rotabat,  et  clauditalis 
vitium  gladiatoria  mobilitale  excedebat."  xcviii.  20.  The  following  is  the 
portrait  ofFr^re  Bernard  in  Vac  Salyre  Menijip  c.  "I.esautrespresquctous 
avoient  des  piques  qu'ils  bransloient  souvcnt,  par  faute  de  meilleur  passe 
temps,  lior-smis  un  Feiiillant  bolteux,  qui  arm^  tout  4  crud  se  fais-oit 
faire  place  avec  une  esp^e  i  deux  mains,  et  une  hache  d'armcs  a  sa 
ceinture,  son  Breviaire   pondu  par  dcrrierc,  et  le  faisoit  bon  voir  sur  un 

pied,  faisant  le  moulinet  devant  Ics  Uames  mais  tout  cela  mar- 

choit  en  moult  belle  ordonnance  Calholique,  Apostolique,  et  Romaine." — 
Tom.  i.  p.  13. 

*  This  cry  was  occasionally  raised.  In  the  Vst  volume  of  the  Satyre 
Menipprc,  p.  387,  <kc.  is  printed  a  Dismurs  href  et.  veritable  par  Pierre 
Corneio  Ligueur,  giving  an  account  of  the  Parisian  famine,  which  in 
many  points  forms  a  parallel  with  De  Lery's  narrative  of  the  siege  pf 
Sancerre. 


A.  D.   1590.]  RELIEF  OF  PARIS.  251 

point  the  avarice  of  his  soldiers,  while  thus  bartering 
food  for  gold,  without  risking  a  mutiny ;  and  when 
the  still  hungering  citizens  poured  forth  thousands 
of  the  old  and  imbecile,  in  order  to  disembarrass 
themselves  from  useless  mouths,  Henry  could  not 
drive  them  back  from  his  lines  at  the  sword's  point, 
witliout  incurring  everlasting  infamy  by  a  cold- 
blooded massacre. 

At  length,  the  Duke  of  Maycnne,  who  since  his 
defeat  at  Yvry  had  been  soliciting  aid  from  Spain, 
obtained  a  powerful  succour ;  and  the  Prince  of 
Parma,*  the  most  successful  general  of  his  time, 
advanced  from  his  government  in  the  Netherlands 
to  the  relief  of  Paris.  So  cautious  was  his  march, 
so  warily  were  his  positions  taken,  so  strongly 
were  his  halting-places  intrenched,  that  he  every- 
where retained  the  choice  of  operations  ;  and  when 
Henry  despatched  a  trumpet  with  a  challenge  to 
battle,  he  was  mortified  at  receivmg  in  answer  that 
the  Spanish  commander  had  not  traversed  France 
to  adopt  advice  from  his  enemy  ;  and  that  however 
repugnant  to  the  wishes  of  the  king  might  be  the 
plan  of  campaign  which  the  Prince  of  Parma  had 
framed,  it  was  not  likely  to  be  changed  unless  upon 
compulsion.!  After  a  fruitless  attempt  at  escalade 
by  night,  the  king  abandoned  his  trenches  and  with- 
drew to  Senlis;  dismissing  the  greater  proportion 
of  his  army,  and  retaining  about  him  not  more 
troops  than  were  sufficient  for  light  and  flying 
operations. 

The  death  of  Sixtus  V.  occurred  shortly 
before  the  relief  of  Paris  ;  and  so  little  was     "°"    ' 
his  memory  respected  by  the  leaguers,  with  whom 
he  had  never  cordially  united,  that  God  was  pub- 
licly thanked  from  the  pulpits  for  having  delivered 

*  Alessandro  Famese,  son  of  Ottavio  Farnese  and  Margaret  of  Au»- 
tria,  a  natural  daughter  of  Charles  V. 
(  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  1.  p.  84. 


252  POLICY  OF  GREGORY  XIV.  [cH.   XVII. 

them  from  a  bad  pope  and  a  Politique*  The  tiara 
was  worn  for  a  few  days  only  by  Urban  VII.  ;t  and 
it  then  passed  to  the  brows  of  Gregory  XIV.,  who 
devoted  the  ten  months  of  his  pontificate  to  a  vehe- 
ment support  of  the  Spanish  interests,  and  prodi- 
gally expended  in  their  behalf  the  five  millions  of 
gold  which  had  been  amassed  by  the  thrift  of  Six- 
tus.|  One  of  his  earliest  measures  Avas  to 
-  ■  levy  a  considerable  army  for  the  aid  of  the 
Seize,  under  the  command  of  a  nephew,  whom  he 
created  Duke  of  Montemarciano,^  in  order  to  con- 
fer dignity  upon  his  expedition.  He  next  addressed 
monitions  to  all  the  French  Romanists,  both  nobles 
and  ecclesiastics,  who  had  proffered  allegiance  to 
Henry ;  menacing  the  former  with  spiritual  cen- 
sures, the  latter  with  deprivation,  unless  they  should 
immediately  abandon  the  cause  of  the  heretic, 
whose  excommunication  he  renewed.  The  war, 
however,  languished  during  the  winter.  The  Prince 
of  Parma,  who  speedily  returned  to  Flanders,  had 
suff'ered  more  than  once  very  greatly  from  the  roy- 
alist detachments  which  hung  upon  his  rear.  The 
king,  on  the  retreat  of  the  Spanish  army,  projected 

*  Jd.  ibid.  p.  94.  Aubry,  Cur6  of  St.  Andr^,  preached  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  :  "  Dieu  vous  a  delivr6  d'un  rneschant  Pape  et  Poliiique ;  s'il 
eust  vescu  plus  long-temps,  on  eust  bieii  estonn6  d'ouir  prescher  dans 
Paris  contre  le  Pape  qu'il  eust  falu  faire." — Satyre  Menippce,  torn.  i.  p. 
7,  note. 

t  Giambattista  Castagna,  to  whose  probable  succession  Sixtus  V. 
made  an  heraldic  allusion,  founded  on  their  respective  armorial  bearings. 
One  day,  on  finding  some  pears  served  at  his  dessert  rotten  at  the  core, 
he  remarked  to  his  attendants,  "  I  see  well  enough  that  you  are  tired  of 
Pears,  and  want  Chestnuts."  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie,  Note  on  Lettres 
d'Ossat,  torn.  i.  p.  19. 

+  "  Vixit  annos  Ivii.  sedit  mensibus  x.  diebus  x.  quo  tempore  totum 
illud  quinque  decies  centena  M.  aureorum,  tanta  parsimonia  et  aviditate 
a  Sixto  v.  congesta,  absump.sit ;  majorem  partem  in  Belli  Oallici  sump- 
tus.  quod  quEkm  injuste  et  imprudenter  susceptum  tarn  infelicem  et  dig- 
num  consilio  exitum  habuit." — De  'I'hou,  eii.  9. 

§  The  domain  of  Montemarciano,  in  the  March  of  Ancona,  had  be- 
longed to  Alfonso  Piccolomini,  who  was  dei)rived  of  it  by  Gregory  XIV. 
on  a  charge  of  treason.  In  1591,  Piccolomini  was  hanged  at  Florence, 
as  a  chief  of  brigands.  De  Thou,  c.  11.  The  nephew  on  whom  the 
pope  bestowed  this  title  was  Ercole  Sfondrato. 


A.  D.  1591.]       RISE  OF  THE  TIERS-PARTI.  253 

a  surprise  of  Paris,  which  proved  unsuccessful  ;* 
but  in  the  siefje  of  Chartres  he  was  more  fortunate ; 
and  having  obtained  possession  of  that 
city,  after  nine  weeks'  investment,!  he  em-  ''" 
ployed  a  short  interval  of  comparative  repose  from 
arms  in  the  adjustment  of  some  pressing  civil  affairs. 
The  more  bigoted  among  the  Romanists  who  had 
acknowledged  Henry  felt  dissatisfied  at  his  con- 
tinued profession  of  Huguenotism  ;  and  the  profli- 
gate courtiers  of  the  late  king,  however  careless 
about  religion,  Avere  soon  disgusted  with  the  pov- 
erty of  their  new  master,  which  deprived  their  long- 
indulged  rapacity  of  any  hope  of  future  gratifica- 
tion. It  might  be  well  enough,  they  said,  for  the 
Huguenots,  desperate  animals  who  hated  repose, 
and  who  were  always  laced  up  in  their  cuirasses, 
like  so  many  tortoises,  to  be  paid  for  the  intolera- 
ble labours  of  war  by  the  promised  restorative  of  a 
battle  ■,%  but  for  themselves,  they  looked  for  other 
bounties.  Out  of  the  union  of  these  two  factions, 
when  their  grievances  had  been  mutually  com- 
municated, arose  a  Tiers-parti;  which  from  small 
beginnings  at  length  assumed  a  formidable  aspect. 
"  When  we  first  heard  reports  of  this  Tiers-parti,^'' 
says  D'Aubigne,  "  we  believed  in  it  as  little  as  we 
did  in  that  troisieme  lieu  which  the  papists  assert  is 

*  A  number  of  soldirrs  disguised  as  peasants,  driving  asses  laden 
Willi  sacks  of  flour,  attempted  to  master  one  of  the  gates ;  but  tlieir 
stratagem  had  been  betrayed  to  the  leaguers.  The  enterprise  is  known 
as  La  Journre  dcs  Pannes  and  Sancta:  Farmalm  did.  Journal  de 
Henri  IV.  tom.  i.  p.  106.     DeThou,  ci.  li. 

t  Matthieu  has  preserved  a  bon  mot  by  Henry  upon  entering  Chartres. 
The  mayor,  in  a  set  harangue,  in  the  name  of  his  fellow-ciiiz.ens,  pro- 
tested obedience  and  fidelity:  "A  laquelle  nous  sommcs  obligts  par  le 
droit  divin  et  humaiu."  "  Et  par  le  droit  de  canon,"  answered  the  king, 
spurring  on  his  hor.se,  and  escaping  the  remainder  of  the  speech. 

X  '•  I.pquel  pour  les  paier  des  labeurs  iiitolcrables  de  la  guerre  pensoit 
leur  avoir  donne  un  re.staurant  en  leur  promettant  uue  bataille.  Cela, 
disoient-ils,  estoit  bon  pour  les  Huguenots,  gens  desesperez,  consus  en 
leur  cuirassee  comme  tortues,  ennemies  de  I'aisc  et  du  repos."— D'Au- 
bigiife.  Hist.  Univ.  torn-  lii.  liv.  lii.  c,  32,  p.  890. 

Vol.  II.— Y 


264  COUNCIL  AT  MANTES.  [CH.  XVII. 

an  intermediate  state  of  future  existence."*     But 
after  tlie  malecontents  had  addressed  themselves  to 
the  young  and  thoughtless  Charles  of  Vend6me,-f 
who  had  assumed  his  late  uncle's  title  of  Cardinal 
of  Bourbon,  and  had  been  persuaded  that  his  uncle's 
right  to  the  crown  also  was  his  legitimate  inherit- 
ance, the  sedition  ripened  into  a  conspiracy.     The 
prince,    indeed,   possessed   few   qualities  fitted   to 
command  respect  or  attachment.     He  is  described 
as   weak,  timid,  and  superstitious,  libertine  in  his 
morals,  and  degraded  by  the  most  sordid  avarice. J 
But  his  name,  his  family,  his  rank  of  prince  of  the 
blood,  and  his  real  proximity  to  the  throne,  con- 
tributed to  give  him  an  influence  of  which  person- 
ally he  was   altogether  unworthy.     His  chief  and 
confidential  adviser  was  a  renegade  Huguenot  of 
low  origin,  but  of  eminent  ability,  the  afterward 
celebrated  Du  Perron.     No  scholar  of  his  time  was 
more  profoundly  versed  in  the  philosophy  of  Aris- 
totle and  Aquinas,  from  the  Siimma  of  which  latter 
writer  he  is  said  (although  we  know  not  how  the 
assertion  can  be  supported)  to  have  imbibed  a  dis- 
taste from  Protestantism.     His  great  controversial 
powers  first  introduced  him  to  notice  in  the  court 
of  Henry  HI.  ;  and   on  the   assassination   of  that 
prince,  he  found  protection  from  the  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon,  whose  vanity  prompted  him  to  affect  the 
character  of  a  Maecenas.'^ 

The  Tiers-parti  was  not  yet  sufficiently  strong  to 
venture  upon  an  open  avowal  of  its  designs  ;  but  they 
were  partially  known  to  the  king,  and  when 
"  ^'      he  assembled  a  council  at  Mantes,  the  Car- 
dinal  of  Bourbon  received  a  summons  to  attend. 
He  obeyed  reluctantly,  and  not  until  more  than  one 

*  Td.  ibid. 

t  Fourth  son  of  Louis  Prince  of  Condi"'. 

i  DeThou,  ci.  9.     Var.  Led.     A  little  belter  character  is  offered  or 
the  cardinal  at  (he  time  of  his  death.     Id.  ex.  14. 
^  De  ThoH,  ci.9     Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  HI. 


A.  D.  1591.]    DECLARATIONS  OF  THE  KING.  255 

citation  had  been  served.  But  his  apprehensions 
must  have  been  dispelled  by  the  apparent  cordiality 
of  his  reception.  Henry,  who  wished  to  separate 
him  from  his  factious  adherents,  and  who  was  not 
without  hope  that  he  might  be  betrayed  into  some 
intemperance  during  the  ensuing  discussion,  by 
which  their  plans  might  be  more  fully  laid  open, 
dissembled  his  suspicions,  and  paid  him  marked 
honours  on  his  arrival.  Du  Perron,  who  formed 
part  of  his  suite,  was  distinguished  by  the  royal 
attention;  and,  won  by  the  graciousness  of  Henry's 
demeanour,  bribed  by  his  promises,  and  doubtless 
awakening  to  the  weakness  of  the  party  with  which 
he  had  engaged,  he  is  believed  to  have  made  full 
revelation  of  its  projects.* 

Of  the  two  edicts  proposed  at  this  assembly,f  the 
first  regarded  the  papal  monitions.  Those  docu- 
ments had  already  encountered  rude  treatment  from 
the  parliament  of  Chalons.  After  having  been  de- 
clared null,  scandalous,  seditious,  full  of  imposture, 
opposed  to  decretals,  canons,  and  councils,  and 
destructive  of  the  liberties  of  the  Galilean  Church, 
they  were  publicly  burned  by  the  executioner. 
The  nuncio,  Andriano,  their  bearer,  was  proscribed, 
as  having  entered  France  without  the  king's  per- 
mission ;  a  reward  of  10,000  livres  was  offered  for 
his  arrest,  and  capital  punishment  was  denounced 
against  all  who  should  receive  or  entertain  him. 
The  king  now  renewed  the  declaration  which  lie  had 
made  immediately  after  his  accession,  and  repeated 
his  promise  of  submitting  to  "  instruction."  He 
added  also  expressions  of  regret  that  the  pope, 
incautiously  listening  to  false  representations  nude 
by  the  leaguers,  should  have  endeavoured  to  shake 
the  allegiance  of  his  noblest  followers  and  subjects. 
To  the  authorized  tribunals  of  his  kingdom  he  in- 

♦  DeThou.ci.  13. 

t  Id.  ci.  14, 15.    The  edicts  are  printed  at  length  in  Mim.  de  la  Ligtie, 
tom.  \v.  p.  359,  360. 


256  DU  PLESSIS'  REMONSTRANCE.         [CH.  XVII. 

trusted  the  prosecution  of  such  measures  as  they 
might  deem  necessary  to  repel  this  great  invasion 
of  the  rights  of  the  national  church  ;  and  he  con- 
tented himself  with  advising  his  prelates  to  assem- 
ble with  all  speed,  and  to  frame  a  canonical  decree 
which  might  relieve  the  clergy  from  doubt,  and 
effectually  frustrate  the  consequences  of  the  pope's 
illegal  censure. 

The  second  proposition  concerned  the  Huguenots. 
Many  months  before,  in  the  November  of  the  past 
year,  Du  Plessis  had  arranged  a  "  formulary"  for 
the  revocation  of  the  disastrous  edict  of  July.  It 
declared  that  every  possible  exertion  should  be  em- 
ployed to  procure  the  assembling  of  a  legitimate 
general  council,  for  the  adjustment  of  religious  dif- 
ferences ;  in  default  of  which,  the  king,  on  his  own 
authority,  would  summon  a  national  council,  which 
might  restore  tranquillity  at  least  in  France.  In  the 
mean  time,  it  revoked  all  the  violent  ordinances  ex- 
torted from  the  late  king  by  the  league  ;  and  adopted 
the  edict  of  1577,  as  the  basis  on  which  the  privileges 
of  both  religions  were  to  rest  for  the  future.*  Al- 
though this  wise  and  tolerant  arrangement  received 
the  approbation  of  the  royal  council,  it  was  never 
promulgated  ;  and  in  the  following  March,  Du  Ples- 
sis presented  a  brief  but  most  pointed  remonstrance 
on  its  delay.  "  We  are  told,"  says  this  fearless  ad- 
vocate, "that  the  Huguenots  must  have  patience. 
They  have  been  patient  for  fifty  years — they  will 
still  be  patient  in  the  service  of  their  king,  for  they 
are  his  subjects,  and  their  affections  change  not ; 
but  it  is  not  for  his  service  that  they  should  continue 
patient  in  such  a  matter  as  this ;  and  even  if  they 
so  wished,  his  majesty  ought  not  to  allow  it.  What, 
indeed,  has  patience  to  do  with  the  affairs  of  re- 
ligion ]  Every  hour  witnesses  births,  marriages, 
and  deaths.     Shall  our  children  continue  to  die  with- 

•  Tom.  iv.  p.  493. 


A.  D.   1591.]         TOLERATING    EDICT.  257 

out  baptism  1  Shall  our  marriages  be  concluded 
without  solemnity,  in  order  that  they  may  afterward 
be  litigated  ?  Shall  our  dead  be  denied  the  rites  of 
sepulture  1  If  three  families  assemble  together  to 
offer  prayers  to  God  for  the  prosperity  of  the  king 
— if  a  mechanic  sings  a  psalm  in  his  workshop — if  a 
bookseller  exposes  a  French  Bible  or  Testament  for 
sale — these  are  ofl'ences  which  daily  subject  us  to 
prosecution.  The  law,  it  is  said,  compels  the  prose- 
cution. The  law  then  should  be  changed ;  unless  it 
is  one  and  the  same  thing  to  pray  to  God  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  king  quietly  in  one's  own  chamber, 
and  to  preach  seditiously  from  the  pulpit  against  his 
person  and  his  government."* 

The  king  prefaced  the  measures  now  offered  to 
the  council  with  a  long  and  argumentative  speech, 
in  which  he  enumerated  the  disasters  consequent 
upon  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  1577.  Policy, 
not  less  than  justice,  he  said,  now  demanded  its  re- 
newal ;  for  it  was  far  better  to  concede  their  rights 
to  the  Huguenots,  than  to  run  the  hazard  of  arous- 
ing among  them  some  powerful  leader,  who,  even  if 
he  failed  of  complete  success,  would  certainly  per- 
petuate their  faction.  Speed  also  was  necessary  ; 
and  the  arrangement  should  be  concluded  before  the 
arrival  of  the  auxiliaries  hourly  expected  from  Eng- 
land and  the  German  princes  ;  lest  those  powers 
should  advance  demands  which  it  would  be  danger- 
ous to  grai!t  and  difficult  to  refuse  with  honour.  lie 
proposed,  therefore,  to  abrogate  all  the  "  sanguinary 
and  incendiary"  edicts  which  had  been  passed  under 
the  dominance  of  the  league,  and  to  restore  that 
salutary  ordinance  which  the  king  liis  predecessor 
had  loved  to  call  peculiarly  his  owm.  At  the  close 
of  this  speech,  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  stammered 
a  few  unintelligible  words  in  opposition,  and  rose 
from  his  seat  as  if  to  quit  the  council  in  anger.     Not 

*  Tom.  y.  p.  40. 
Y2 


258  DEATH  OF  LA  NOUE.       [cH.  XVII. 

one  of  the  ecclesiastics  moved  to  follow :  Henry  re- 
called him  in  a  tone  of  marked  contempt ;  and  the 
proposed  edict  was  unanimously  adopted,  with  the 
addition  of  a  clause  limiting  its  duration  till  the  con- 
clusion of  peace,  when  a  general  review  might  be 
taken  of  the  state  of  religion.* 

The  campaign  was  renewed  by  the  siege 
Aug.  31.  g^j^^  capture  of  Noyon  ;  but  the  joy  conse- 
quent on  this  success  was  greatly  diminished  by  the 
death  of  one  whose  loss,  as  his  master  justly  and 
feelingly  remarked,  was  not  to  be  compensated  by 
the  acquisition  even  of  a  province.  La  None,  who 
was  employed  in  besieging  the  strong  castle  of 
Lamballe  in  Bretany,  was  wounded  in  the  head  by 
a  musket-ball,  which  struck  him  from  a  ladder  on 
which  he  was  reconnoiti-ing  the  breach.  He  lin- 
gered eighteen  days  after  this  casualty,  retaining  his 
intellects  to  the  last  moment,  and  devoting  himself 
to  offices  of  piety.  The  single  regret  which  seems 
to  have  disturbed  his  parting  hours  arose  from  a 
contemplation  of  the  probable  embarrassment  of  his 
family ;  for  not  only  had  he  expended  a  princely 
fortune  in  asserting  the  Huguenot  cause,  but  he  had 
rendered  his  estates  liable  to  engagements  which 
they  were  little  competent  to  defray. f 

Torn  as  were  his  own  councils  by  faction,  Henry's 
chief  strength  at  this  period  arose  from  the  still 
greater  disunion  which  prevailed  among  his  ene- 
mies. An  occurrence  which  he  at  first  viewed  with 
dismay  tended  ultimately  much  to  liis  advantage ; 
and  the  escape  of  the  young  Duke  of  Guise 

'^''     '    from  the  prison  at  Tours,  in  which  he  had 
been  confined  since  his  father's  murder,J  raised  a 

*  De  Thou,  ci.  15. 

t  Amirau.x,  p.  364.  De  Thou,  rii.  3.  The  latter  writer  has  condensed 
the  high  merits  of  La  Noiig  into  a  few  most  pregnant  wonls.  "  Vir 
utique  uijjen*!,  et  t'orliiudine,  pnuieiitid,  rei  militaris  perilia  cum  maximis 
hujus  S6vi  ducibus  comparandns;  pjerisque  viias  iniiocentia,  modera- 
tione,  sequitate  praeferemius."    La  NouS  died  in  his  si.vtieth  year. 

i  He  escaped  by  a  rope  from  the  top  of  a  lofty  tower  overlooking  the 


A.  D.  1591.]       DUKE  OF  GUISE  ESCAPES.  259 

dangerous  and  unexpected  competition  against  his 
uncle  of  Mayenne.  The  Seize,  eager  to  disembarrass 
themselves  from  the  shackles  of  a  leader  whom  they 
had  always  feared  and  now  detested,  endeavoured 
by  secret  negotiation  with  the  court  of  Madrid  to 
open  a  path  for  Guise's  succession  to  the  crown. 
Philip,  indeed,  notwithstanding  the  restrictions 
which  the  Salic  Law  interposed  upon  female  inher- 
itance, no  longer  disguised  his  intention  of  asserting 
the  claim  of  his  daughter,  the  Infanta  Isabella,  to 
the  throne  of  France,  in  right  of  her  mother  ;*  and 
the  prize  seemed  likely  to  fall  to  the  successful  can- 
didate for  her  hand.  The  Archduke  Ernest  of  Aus- 
tria was  the  son-in-law  whom  the  King  of  Spain 
contemplated  ;  but  the  French  were  ill  prepared  to 
submit  to  a  dynasty  altogether  foreign.  The  des- 
patches which  the  Seize  addressed  to  Madrid  were 
intercepted  on  their  route,  and  conveyed  to  Henry  ; 
and  not  the  least  remarkable  portion  of  their  con- 
tents was  the  blindness  and  inveteracy  with  which 
they  alluded  to  some  of  the  foulest  acts  in  recent 
national  history.  The  month  of  August,  it  was  said, 
had  again  manifested  itself  propitious  to  the  interests 
of  the  Church,  by  giving  freedom  to  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  the  son  of  the  protomartyr  of  France.  That 
month,  in  a  former  year,  had  witnessed  a  blow,  di- 
rected by  Providence,  which  removed  a  tyrant ;  and 
yet  earlier  it  had  been  rendered  more  illustrious  by 
the  ever-memorable  chastisement  inflicted  upon 
Coligny  and  his  heretical  followers.! 

It  was  by  no  means  to  negotiation  only  that  the 
eff"orts  of  the  Seize  were  confined :  and  a  bloody  out- 
rage which  they  perpetrated  in  the  heart  of  Paris 
evinced  that  they  were  resolute  in  action  also.    The 

river;  a  boal  was  waiting  below  to  carry  liim  across,  and  a  fleet  horse 
and  a  strong  escort  received  him  on  the  opposite  bank.  De  Thou,  cL 20' 
Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  135. 

*  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Ileury  IL 

t  De  Thou,  cii,  13. 


260  MURDER  OF  BRISSON.  [CH.  XVII. 

honest  opposition  with  which  tlie  parhament  had 
encountered  their  intrigues  had  rendered  that  body 
scarcely  less  odious  to  them  than  was  Mayenne 
himself;  and  some  excitement,  occasioned  by  its 
acquittal  of  a  citizen  accused  on  slight  grounds  of 
holding  treacherous  communication  with  the  royalist 
army,  appeared  to  offer  to  the  Seize  a  favourable 
opportunity  for  wreaking  vengeance.  Bussy  le 
Clerc,*  on  this,  as  on  other  occasions,  was  their 
chief  instrument.  In  order  to  prevent  opposition 
from  his  less  violent  associates  in  a  small  and  select 
council  which  the  Seize  had  nominated  among  them- 
selves, he  pretended  that  he  had  drawn  up  a  new 
oath  of  union  ;  and  presenting  a  blank  paper  to  which 
he  said  the  official  form  would  be  annexed,  as  soon 
as  it  had  been  transcribed  by  the  secretaries,  he  ob- 
tained, under  this  false  pretext,  the  signatures  which 
were  to  give  a  varnish  of  legality  to  the  crime  which 
he  projected.  The  imwritten  space  was  imme- 
diately filled  up  with  a  sentence  of  death  against  Bris- 
son,  president  au  mortier  of  the  parliament,  and 
L' Archer  and  Tardif,  two  of  its  counsellors  most 
distinguished  among  the  advocates  for  peace ;  and 
the  three  unsuspecting  victims  having  been 
°^''  ■  arrested  and  dragged  to  the  Chatelet,  were 
strangled  in  its  vaults  under  the  eyes  of  their 
enemies. 

To  the  many  acknowledged  excellences  of  Bris- 
son,  his  eloquence  and  profound  knowledge  both  of 

*  .lean  le  Clerc,  originally  a  fenclng--master  and  afterward  a  police 
officer  (Pro'di  de  Salle),  liavjng  made  liirnself  useful  lo  llie  league,  wus 
appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  Bastile  after  the  day  of  Barricades,  lit  llieii 
prefixed  the  name  of  Hussy  lo  his  own  ;  an  idle  and  impudent  v.iuni,  hy 
winch  lie  sought  to  appropriate  to  himself  a  reputation  for  bravery  similar 
to  that  which  ihe  gallant  IJussy  d'Amboi.se  enjoyed  among  the  Parisians. 
"  Oont  le  nom  vulloit  encore  chez  eu.x  auiant  que  celui  de  Cesar  " — 
D'Auhigne,  Hist.  Univ.  lom.  iii.  liv,  iii  c.  1.  I.ouis  de  Clermont,  better 
known  as  I'ussy  D'Amboise  was  a  favourite  of  Ihe  Duke  of  Anjou,  and 
disimguished  for  many  eminent  qualilies.  lie  took  especial  pleasure  in 
affronting  ihe  minions  of  lleiiry  III. ;  and  he  was  at  la.si  assassinated  by 
the  Count  ric  Monsereiiu,  who  detected  him  in  an  intrigue  with  his  wife. 
Journal  de  Henri  III.  torn.  i.  p.  284.    Brantome,  Discuurs  Ixxv.  torn.  vi:. 


A.  D.  1591.]      THE  MIIRDEUERS  PUNISHED.  261 

law  and  of  general  literature,  has  been  opposed  the 
imputation  of  avarice  and  ambition;  but  the  touch- 
ing simplicity  wliich  he  exhibited  in  his  last  most 
trying  moments  conveys  an  impression  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  mind  stimulated  by  loftier  motives  than  the 
hope  of  any  worldly  gain  or  aggrandizement.  When 
he  inquired  upon  what  evidence  his  sentence  rested, 
and  demanded  to  be  confronted  with  his  accusers, 
he  was  answered  by  a  ferocious  burst  of  laughter  ; 
and  this  unfeeling  mockery  was  repeated  upon  his 
next  application,  that  his  execution  might  be  delayed 
till  he  had  completed  a  great  work  upon  jurispru- 
dence which  then  employed  his  pen,  and  which  he 
averred  could  not  be  left  unfinished  without  serious 
injury  to  the  state.  On  the  morning  following  these 
murders,  the  three  bodies  were  exposed  at  the 
Grfeve,  with  a  label  attached  to  each,  declaring  it 
to  be  the  corpse  of  a  traitor  and  a  heretic*  But 
this  spectacle,  which  it  was  hoped  might  arouse 
some  movement  among  the  populace  favourable  to 
the  ultimate  designs  of  the  Seize,  was  regarded  with 
coldness,  if  not  with  disgust.  The  magistrates 
were  venerable,  both  on  account  of  their  years  and 
of  their  integrity ;  and  while  the  want  of  open  trial 
and  the  hurried  and  obscure  circumstances  of  their 
death  tended  to  generate  compassion  among  the 
Parisians,  the  Spanish  agents  were  alarmed  at  an 
act  which  they  deemed  rash  and  inconsiderate,  and 
likely  to  involve  them  in  danger. 

The  Seize,  indeed,  however  devoid  of  compunc- 
tion for  their  wickedness,  were  soon  made  to  per- 
ceive the  great  political  error  into  which  they  had 
fallen.  When  this  outrage  was  announced 
to  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  at  Laon,  he  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  Paris  with  a  force  of  nearly  3000 
men,  compelled  Bussy  le  Clerc  to  abandon  the  Bas- 
tile,  and  having  taken  due  precautions  for  the  tran- 

*  De  Thou,  cii.  12 


262      DECLARATION  OF  THE  CLERGY.  [cH.  XVII. 

quillity  of  the  city,  condemned  nine  of  the  leading 
dehnquents  to  the  gallows.  Four  of  them 
'"^'  '  were  immediately  seized  and  executed  ;* 
the  remainder,  among  whom  was  Bussy  himself, 
effected  their  escape.  It  is  said  that  in  the  house 
of  that  demagogue,  which  was  given  up  to  pillage, 
700,000  francs  were  found,  the  harvest  either  of  ex- 
tortion or  of  Spanish  bribery.  Shorn  of  his  ill- 
acquired  wealth  and  his  brief  authority,  he  retired 
to  Brussels,  where  he  re-entered  upon  his  original 
occupation  as  a  fencing-master,  and  lived  unmo- 
lested, but  in  poverty,  to  an  advanced  age.f  The 
Duke  of  Mayenne,  content  with  the  measure  of 
punishment  which  he  had  exacted,  proclaimed  a 
general  amnesty  for  the  past.  Any  further  judicial 
steps  were  indeed  unnecessary ;  for  the  unaccus- 
tomed promptness  and  vigour  which  he  had  mani- 
fested in  this  instance  palsied  the  Seize,  and  so  far 
diminished  their  influence  that  henceforward  they 
became  comparatively  harmless. 

Meantime  the  Romanist  prelates  who  adhered  to 
the  king,  having  assembled  at  Chartres,  de- 

*^''  ■  clared  the  late  papal  censures  to  be  alto- 
gether null,  both  in  form  and  matter,  contrary  to 
justice,  and  framed  on  the  suggestion  of  foreign 
enemies  of  France. J  Their  deliberations,  however, 
were  very  far  from  satisfying  the  acute  judgment  of 
Du  Plessis ;  he  perceived  that  the  clerg\\  having  been 
excommunicated,  while  the  lay  authorities  had  been 
only  admonished,  were  chiefly  guided  by  a  wish  to 
free  themselves  from  their  own  heavier  burden ; 
that  in  opposition  to  the  king's  express  command, 
they  applied  for  permission  to  treat  with  Rome  ; 
that  they  sought  to  diminish  the  constitutional 
authority  of  the  parliament,  to  which  hitherto,  from 

*  Despecke  du  Due  de  Parme  au  Roy  d'Espaigne.    Du  Plessis,  torn.  v. 
p.  1)2. 

t  liemarques  siir  La  Satyre  Menippre,  toni.  ii  p.  105. 

J  Declaration  du  Clcrgede  France.    Du  Plessis,  torn.  v.  p.  73. 


A.  D.  1591.]         MARRIAGE    OF    TURENNE.  263 

time  immemorial,  all  disputes  between  the  crown 
and  the  papacy  had  been  referred  ;  that  they  ap- 
peared to  stipulate  for  the  conversion  of  the  king  as 
the  price  at  which  their  obedience  was  to  be  pur- 
chased ;  and  that  they  sought  to  appropriate  to 
themselves  the  office  of  sole  mediators  of  peace, 
under  which  dangerous  pretext  tliey  might  organize 
a  general  Romanist  league,  destructive  to  the  king's 
free  agency.  The  remonstrance  in  which  he  con- 
veyed these  opinions*  produced  the  desired  effect 
upon  Henry  ;  who  evaded  each  request  of  the  clergy 
in  civil  terms,  and  maintained  his  ground  unshaken, 
notwithstanding  he  was  pressingly  urged  to  aban- 
don it. 

His  arniy  having  been  increased,  by  the  junction 
of  German  and  English  auxiliaries,  to  the  formidable 
amount  of  nearly  40,000  men,  Henry  felt  ^^^  ,3 
himself  strong  enough  to  undertake  the 
siege  of  Rouen  ;  an  important  enterprise  which  he 
had  long  meditated,  and  upon  which  the  entire  pos- 
session of  Normandy  appeared  dependant.  Before 
his  march  into  that  province,  he  rewarded  the  faith- 
ful services  of  Turenne,  his  chief  agent  in  the 
gathering  of  this  vast  armament,  by  presenting  him 
with  the  hand  of  Charlotte  de  la  Marche,  to  whom 
her  deceased  brother  had  bequeathed  the  rich  in- 
heritance of  Sedan  and  Bouillon,  on  condition  that 
she  married  a  Protestant.  Henry,  as  the  lady's 
guardian,  had  been  earnestly  solicited  by  the  Dukes 
of  Louva'oe,  of  Montpensier,  and  of  Nevers,  to  set 
aside  this  testamentary  provision  in  favour  of  some 
one  of  their  sons ;  but  if  gratitude  had  been  an  in- 
sufficient motive  to  prompt  his  decision,  there  were 
abundant  reasons  of  policy  which  precluded  him 

*  Dexpeche  envoyee  de  Tows  art  Roy,  Oct.  iij.  1591.  Td.  torn.  v.  p.  85. 
The  articles  to  which  that  despatch  objects  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
declaration  of  the  clergy  noticed  above;  but  they  are  acknowledged  in  a 
subsequent  Memoratidum  de  ce  qui  passe  en  la  porsutte  du  rerultat  d* 
i'Assembke  du  Clergy,  Dec.  18,  1591.    Ibid.  p.  122. 


264  SIEGE    OF    ROUEN.  [clI.  XVIl. 

from  entertaining-  the  proposition  of  either  an 
avowed  enemy  or  of  uncertain  friends.*  As  if  his 
former  indefatigable  activity  had  been  insufficient 
to  justify  his  master's  choice,  Turenne  (hence  for- 
ward known  as  the  Duke  de  Bouillon  and  a  marechal 
of  France),  on  the  veiy  evening  of  his  nuptials,  sur- 
prised the  town  of  Stenay,  and  captured  it  from  the 
Lorrainers  by  escalade. —  '^Venire  St.  Grifi.'"!  was 
Henry's  exclamation  when  he  learned  this  new  con- 
quest; "  I  would  make  marriages  every  day,  and 
should  soon  be  in  full  possession  of  my  kingdom,  if 
I  were  sure  of  such  wedding  presents. "J 

The  defence  of  Rouen  was  intrusted  by  the  Duke 
de  Mayenne  to  his  son  Henry  of  Aiguillon,  whose 
extreme  youth  was  placed  under  the  surer  guidance 
of  Andre  de  Brancas  Villars,  the  nominal  admiral 
of  the  league,  than  whom  no  soldier  existed  of 
greater  valour  and  capacity.  Queen  Elizabeth, 
anxious  to  expel  the  leaguers  from  the  provinces 
immediately  opposite  the  English  coast,  had  des- 
patched the  Earl  of  Essex  to  Boulogne  with  4000 
well-appointed  men  ;  and  the  first  blood  shed  under 
the  walls  of  Rouen  was  that  of  a  nephew  of  the 
British  general.  His  soldiers  embalmed  the  body, 
and  deposited  it  in  a  leaden  coffin,  avowing  their 
intention  to  carry  it  with  them  through  the  breach 
whenever  they  should  be  ordered  to  the  general  as- 
sault.^ Whether  irritated  by  this  family  loss,  or 
indulging  a  chivalrous  spirit,  which  had  not  yet  be- 


*  De  Tlioii,  cii.  15. 

t  This  favourite  exclamation  had  been  taught  Henry  in  his  childhood, 
in  order  to  prevent  him  from  acquiring  the  evil  habit  of  blas|ihemous 
swearing,  to  which,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  Charles  IX.  was  Sf> 
disgracefully  addicted.  The  allusion  wa.s  to  the  fat  Franciscans,  who 
wore  gray  habits.     VEsyrit  de  Henry  IV.     Sully,  loin.  x.  p.  174. 

t  Cayet.  Chron.  Nov.  toin  ii.  p.  482.  De  Hury.  Hist,  de  Henri  IV. 
toin.  i  p.  281.  Mainibcurg  aptly  compares  Turenne  to  Dnvid,  '-who 
married  not  Saul's  daughter  till  he  had  killed  u  hundred  Philistines" 
p.  845. 

^  De  Thou,  cii.  17.  WTien  the  English  were  disappointed  in  this 
hope  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  eiege  they  carried  the  body  home. 


A.D.   1591.]    ESSEX    CHALLENGES    VILLARS.  265 

come  generally  obsolete,  and  by  which  no  contem- 
porary, perhaps,  was  more  individually  swayed,* 
Essex  addressed  a  cartel  to  Villars,  challenging  him 
to  combat  on  foot  or  on  horseback  in  a  coat-of-mail 
or  in  his  doublet ;  "  in  either  of  which  arrays  I  will 
maintain  that  my  quarrel  is  more  just  than  that  of 
the  league,  that  I  am  a  better  man  than  yourself, 
and  that  my  mistress  is  superior  to  yours  in  beauty. 
If  you  decline  to  meet  me  sinjjly,  I  will  bring  twenty 
followers,  each  of  whom  shall  be  an  equal  match  for" 
a  colonel ;  or  sixty,  with  none  lower  in  degree  than  a 
captain."  Villars  was  too  prudent  to  be  diverted 
from  the  strict  line  of  duty  which  his  high  charge 
imposed  upon  him  :  and  he  replied,  that  till  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  he  was  not  at  his 
own  disposal :  "  Then,''  he  added,  in  the  customary 
language  appropriated  to  the  Duello,  "  I  will  cheer- 
fully accept  your  invitation,  and  will  fight  you  on 
horseback,  with  the  arms  in  use  among  gentlemen. 
To  come  to  the  concluding  part  of  your  letter,  in 
which  you  assert  that  you  are  a  better  man  than 
myself,  I  answer,  that  you  have  lied,  and  will  lie  so 
often  as  you  repeat  the  assertion.  In  like  manner 
you  will  lie  if  you  deny  that  the  quarrel  which  I 
maintain  in  defence  of  my  Religion  is  more  just 
than  that  of  any  who  seek  its  destruction.  As  for 
the  comparison  of  your  mistress  with  mine,  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  you  do  not  speak  with  more 
truth  on  that  head  than  on  the  others.  Neverthe- 
less it  is  not  a  subject  which  gives  me  much  concern 
at  present."  These  fierce  demonstrations  and  pre- 
ludings  of  battle  were  not  followed  by  any  real  con- 
flict ;  whether  the  first  heat  of  the  correspondents 
gradually  subsided ;  whether  they  were  forbidden 
by  superior  authority  from  prosecuting  their  private 

*  "On  remarquoit  en  I'un  le  nalurel  ancien  dea  vieux  Chevaliers 
Anglois  qui  couroicnt  le  nionde  pour  maintenir  la  heaulS  de  leurs  mais- 
tresses  "— Cayet.  Chron.  Nov.  torn.  ii.  p.  503,  lo  whom  reference  may  be 
made  for  the  c-ariel  and  its  answer. 

Vol.  II.— Z 


266  DU  PLESSls' NEGOTIATION         [cH.XVII. 

feud ;  or  whether,  as  is  more  probable,  the  activity 
with  which  the  siege  was  pressed  did  not  allow  suf- 
ficient pause  for  the  formalities  of  a  listed  combat. 

Two  months  had  been  consumed  in  this  siege, 
with  the  alternations  of  fortune  usually  incident  to 
vigorous  attack  and  resolute  defence,  when  the 
king's  hope  of  success  was  materially  diminished  by 
advice  that  the  Prince  of  Parma  was  again  advan- 
cing from  the  Netherlands.  His  first  resort  was  to 
England  ;  and  it  will  be  more  to  our  purpose  to  re- 
late a  few  particulars  of  the  remarkable  negotiation 
in  which  Du  Plessis  consequently  became  engaged 
with  Elizabeth,  than  to  detail  the  sorties  and  assaults 
which  occurred  at  Rouen.  The  narrative  of  the 
diplomatist  contains  many  occasional  notices  which 
afford  strong  conviction  of  the  nature  of  the  queen's 
feelings  towards  her  youthful,  gallant,  and  accom- 
plished favourite. 

Du  Plessis  was  instructed  to  request  an  additional 
succour  of  5000  men,  whose  services  probably  would 
not  be  required  for  a  longer  period  than  six  weeks ; 
and  many  of  the  arguments  likely  to  be  employed 
in  justifying  a  refusal  were  sagaciously  foreseen, 
perhaps  from  a  consciousness  that  they  might  be 
advanced  with  truth.*  It  appears  that  of  the  4000 
men  originally  sent,  not  more  than  600  could  now  be 
mustered  under  arms ;  and  that  their  general,  who 
had  visited  p]ngiand  on  a  short  furlough,  had  returned 
to  his  command,  in  opposition  to  the  queen's  will 
and  menaced  with  the  loss  of  her  favour.  These 
were  by  no  means  favourable  preliminaries  to  Du 
Plessis'  negotiation;  and  accordingly,  "having  been 
long  well  acquainted  with  the  humours  of  the 
queen,"  he  felt  assured  that,  unless  he  could  per- 
suade Essex  to  bend  homeward,  all  liis  labours 
would  be  hopeless.  But  tlie  Prince  of  Parma  was 
in  full   march  towards  Rouen ;  a  battle  was  con- 

*  Tom.  V.  p.  129. 


A.  D.   1592.]  WITH  QUEEN  ELIZABETIf.  267 

fidently  expected  ;  and  the  high  and  generous  feel- 
ing of  the  EiigHsh  soldier  could  ill  brook  the  dis- 
honour of  quitting  his  post  at  so  spirit-stirring  a 
moment.* 

On  reaching  Dieppe,  Mornay  encountered  an  uncle 
of  Essex,  on  his  route  to  the  French  camp,  charged 
expressly  by  the  queen  to  summon  the  truant  home 
on  pain  of  forfeiture  of  his  estates  and  dignities, 
and  of  the  recall  of  all  her  subjects  from  France-, 
"So  little  was  her  majesty  in  any  disposition  to 
furnish  reinforcements  for  the  succour  of  the  king." 
Scarcely  had  he  touched  land  at  Rye  (La  Rie,  as  he 
writes  it,  in  conformity  with  French  orthography), 
before  he  was  met  by  a  second  messenger  bearing 
similar  despatches.  Nevertheless  he  pro-  1592. 
ceeded.  On  the  very  evening  of  his  arrival  ^^"-  *■ 
in  London  he  received  a  message  from  the  queen, 
through  the  French  resident,  to  whom  she  had  sent 
the  clerk  of  her  council  for  the  purpose,  urging  him 
to  write  instantly  to  the  king,  with  a  request  that 
he  would  order  Essex  to  withdraw  from  a  dangerous 
position  which  he  was  reported  to  occupy  between 
the  outposts  and  the  besieged  city  ;  and  that  he 
would  put  some  restraint  upon  the  earl's  rash  and 
hair-brained  follies.  Du  Plessis  assured  Elizabeth, 
in  return,  that  Henry  had  already  forbidden  the 
lodgment ;  and  that  he  had  gently  shown  the  fool- 
hardiness  of  tlie  project,  wiiile  he  at  the  same  time 
commended  the  bravery  and  affection  which  had 
prompted  Essex  to  make  the  offer.  The  j^^^  ^ 
first  audience  was  stormy  ;  the  queen  ex- 
pressed herself  as  altogether  disgusted  with  the 
conduct  of  affairs  in  France,  and  rudely  and  reso- 
lutely! announced  her  determination  not  to  assist 
the  king  with  more  than  her  prayers.  The  reasons 
she  assigned  were  perpetually  interrupted  by  angry 

*  Letlre  du  Roy  n  M.  (ie  Beauvoir,  Ambassadcur  pour  sa  Majcsti  en 
Angleterre.     Du  Plessis,  tom.  v.  p.  148. 

t  Rude  eC  resoUue.    V\i  Plessis  au  Roy,  tom.  v.  p.  170. 


268  DU  PLESSIS'  NEGOTIATION  [cH.  XVH. 

digressions,  reproaches,  and  menaces  against  Essex. 
She  declared  "  that  she  would  reduce  him  to  a  level 
with  the  meanest  peasant  in  England ;  that  he  had 
persuaded  the  king  that  he  was  lord  of  all,  but  that 
she  would  show  him  the  difference  ;"  being  firmly- 
resolved,  not  only  not  to  send  him  reinforcements, 
but  even  to  recall  all  the  troops  which  she  had  be- 
fore despatched. 

Du  Plessis  wisely  allowed  this  passion  to  exhale; 
replied  as  briefly  as  possible  ;  and  asked  permission 
to  draw  up  on  paper  an  explanatory  memorandum. 
His  request  was  granted,  and  he  M-as  instructed  to 
deliver  his  protocol  to  the  lord-treasurer. 
In  his  second  audience,  two  days  afterward, 
Elizabeth  was  equally  indignant  against  Essex,  but 
somewhat  more  gracious  towards  the  King  of 
France  ;  she  seemed  still,  however,  obstinately  bent 
on  the  refusal  of  any  fresh  aid,  although  she  might 
permit  him  to  retain  that  which  she  had  already 
sent.  It  was  not  without  difficulty  that  De  Mor- 
nay  persuaded  her  not  to  consider  this  as  her  final 
answer,  and  obtained  leave  to  offer  a  second  me- 
morial to  Burleigh.  The  cabinet  throughout  seems 
to  have  been  favourable  to  Henry's  application  ;* 
and  the  queen  was  so  far  biased  by  its  advice,  that 
after  the  communication  of  that  document,  she  gave 
orders  for  the  levy  of  3000  men,  who,  for  the  sake 
of  expedition,  were  to  be  raised  in  Kent,  Sussex, 
and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  from  a  class,  the  name  of 
which  we  do  not  recognise,  but  which  is  said  to  have 
been  especially  allotted  to  the  defence  of  those 
districts.!      "  13ut    two     hours    afterward,    having 

*  "  ?arce  qii'il  est  certain  que  tous  les  principaux  de  son  Conseil  re- 
cojtnoissent  qu'elle  ne  voiis  doilu  manquer  en  cetie  neiessit(^." — Id.  ibid. 

t  "  F.lle  se  lascha  d  ace'onliT  u\i  Roy  deux  mille  piqiiiers  et  inille  mous- 
quelaires,  et  fureni  pro|iosi  s  Ics  iiioyens  de  les  arcolcrer.  A  scavojr  en 
les  prenaiit  es  pays  de  Kent,  Sussex,  et  Isle  de  Wick  qui  soni  les  plus 
procliaine.s  coiilr6es,  d'entre  ceulx  mesmes  qui  sont  destines  el  reteneus 
jxjur  la  deffense  du  pays,  qii'ils  appellenten  leur  langage  Trraucthmaa.'" 
—Tom.  V.  p.  104.  Train-bands  has  been  suggested  to  us  as  the  word 
intended. 


A.  D.  1592.1       WITH  QUEE.V  ELtZABF.TH.  269 

altered  her  opinion,  she  flew  into  a  violent  rage 
with  her  counsellors,  accusing  them  of  having  made 
up  a  story,  and  formed  a  party  against  her  with  the 
French  ambassadors ;  and  that  as  for  Essex,  she 
would  rather  see  him  dead  than  send  him  any  rein- 
forcements." The  ill-humour  and  self-will  which 
she  evinced  were  not  to  be  exceeded  ;  and  she  ap- 
peared determined  to  refuse  all  suggestions  from 
others,  even  if  any  of  those  in  her  confidence  had 
now  been  hardy  enough  to  offer  them.*  » 

In  a  third  audience,  Elizabeth  was  more 
violent  than  heretofore  :  she  said  the  dis-  *"' 
affected  among  her  subjects  accused  her  of  throw- 
ing away  the  lives  of  their  countrymen ;  that  it  was 
insufferable  to  be  perpetually  asked  for  more  troops, 
Avhen,  if  any  thing  untoward  should  occur,  those 
whom  she  had  already  sent  were  without  a  place 
of  retreat ;  and  that  if  she  were  denied  the  pay- 
ment due  to  her  by  treaty,  she  ought  at  least  to 
have  some  security  for  the  brave  men  whose  blood 
she  hazarded.  That  she  had  to  do  with  a  king  who 
passed  his  whole  life  in  the  trenches.  Moreover, 
she  had  been  confidently  informed,  that,  on  one  oc- 
casion, when  four  points  of  the  counterscarp  had 
been  attacked,  the  English  were  led  to  three  of 
them  ;  and  that  the  Earl  of  Essex,  her  general,  had 
been  silly  enough  to  be  there  in  person,  and  to  mount 
guard  in  the  trenches.  Her  expressions  Ihrouffhout 
this  speech  sufficiently  betrayed  how  greatly  she 
took  to  heart  the  danger  to  which  Essex  was  ex- 
posed. 

Du  Plessis  answered,  that  in  blaming  his  master 
for  hazarding  his  person  too  lavishly,  the  queen,  in 
fact,  only  accused  him  of  too  great  courage — cou- 
rage, the  spring  of  which  was  to  be  found  in  his 
affection  for  her.      That  the  Earl  of  Essex,   when 

*  "  Mais  elle  se  resoult  toute  sciilc  on  coste  aflTiiiro,  et  n'y  en  a  auU 
eung,  au  chagria  oti  elle  est,  qui  la  veuille  presser." — Ibid.  p.  171. 

Z2 


270  DU  PLESSIS'  NEGOTIATION.       [cH.  XVII, 

mounting  guard  in  the  trenches,  did  no  more  than 
was  done  by  the  king  himself,  nothing  either  rash 
or  beneath  his  dignity ;  for  that,  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  French  service,  the  trenches  were 
always  divided  among  the  princes  and  nobles  pres- 
ent at  a  siege  ;  that  the  English  had  not  been  em- 
ployed in  the  assault  in  order  to  spare  the  French 
(who,  in  fact,  bore  a  double  portion  of  fatigue), 
but  because,  being  pikemen,  they  were  peculiarly 
adapted  to  close  fighting.  This  reply  was  not  made 
continuously,  but  by  instalments,  as  the  ambassa- 
dor found  opportunity  to  obtain  a  hearing ;  and  he 
had  the  mortification  of  receiving,  at  it  its  close,  a 
renewed  assurance  that  no  reinforcement  should  be 
sent,  lest  Essex,  finding  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
goodly  force,  should  make  it  an  additional  reason 
for  prolonging  his  absence  ;  that  the.  queen  neither 
would  nor  could  act  otherwise  ;  and  that  Du  Plessis 
must  not  imagine  that  there  was  a  certain  person 
(meaning  Essex)  who  could  make  her  change  her 
design  ;  for  that,  in  fact,  he  possessed  but  little 
credit,  and  no  one  but  herself  was  ruler  in  Eng- 
land. 

To  persevere  under  these  circumstances  would 
have  served  only  to  increase  irritation,  and  Du  Ples- 
sis demanded  his  passports  and  withdrew.  When 
Burleigh  was  ordered  by  the  queen  to  reduce  to 
paper  the  reasons  by  which  her  conduct  had  been 
guided,  he  had  the  courage  and  the  honesty  to  reply, 
that  he  did  not  know  any  reason ;  nevertheless, 
that  being  her  majesty's  servant,  he  would  write 
whatever  she  might  dictate,  although  it  was  not  what 
he  approved.  On  the  contrary,  he  entreated  her  to 
remember,  if  any  misadventure  should  occur,  that 
his  advice  was  altogether  opposed  to  her  determina- 
tion. The  story  of  this  embassy  would  be  incom- 
plete, if  we  were  to  omit  to  add,  that  Elizabeth  des- 
patched 2000  men  to  the  king's  aid  immediately 
after  Essex  had  returned  ;  thus  satisfactorily  proving 


A.  D.  159'2.]  SKIRMISH  AT  AUMALC,  271 

the  conclusion  at  which  Du  Plessis  had  arrived, 
that  the  absence  of  the  favourite  wds  the  sole  im- 
pediment which  retarded  the  success  of  Henry's 
application.* 


CHAPTER  XVni. 

Fresh  Advance  of  llie  Prince  of  Parma— Skirmish  at  AumAle— Henry  is 
.  wounded  -Brilliant  Retreat  of  the  Prince  of  Parma— Death  of  Mar6- 
chal  Biron,  and  of  the  Prince  of  Parma — Stale  of  Henry's  Religious 
Opinions — MiH.iing  of  tlic  States-General  In  Paris — The  Salyre  Me- 
nippe— Conferences  at  Surenne — Excitement  in  Paris,  occasioned  by 
the  Clergy— Henry  summons  the  Prelates  to  his  Instruction — Proposi- 
tion by  the  Kin?  of  Spain  opposed  bv  the  Parliament— Capture  of 
Dreux — The  Spaniards  propose  the  IJulte  of  Cuise  as  King — Mayenne 
temporiies— Si.tte  of  Feeling  among  the  Huguenots — Instruction  and 
Abjuration  of  lienry  IV. 

Henry  himself,  mean  time,  had  been  engaged  in 
one  of  the  most  perilous  of  those  encoun- 
lers    which   distinguish    his    adventurous      Feb.'?. 
career.     Havmtr  left  Biron  to  continue  the 
blockade  of  Rouen,  he   advanced  in  person,  with  a 
detachment  of  cavalry,  to  observe   the   Prince  of 
Parma's  movements.      One  morning,  while  at  the 
head  of  about  900  horse,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Aumale,  a  town  on  the  borders  of  Normandy  and 
Picardy,  he  found  himself  so  close  to  the  enemy's 
main  body,  then  on  its  march,  that  he   distinctly 

*  A  marked  proof  of  Du  Plessis'  consummate  knowlcdpe  of  human 
nature  is  exhibited  at  the  cloHe  of  this  negotiation.  While  on  his  return, 
be  found  despatches  from  the  king  awaiting  him  at  Gravesend  (Grnve- 
sinex),  in  oneofvvhich  Henry  expressed  himself  not  altogether  satisfied 
with  the  conduct  of  the  I^nslish  ambassador  in  France.  "  .le  ne  suis 
sans  soup<;on  que  son  Ambassadeur  ne  ni'a  fait  les  bonnes  offices  qui-  je 
me  promcttnis  ile  lui,  vcn  le  rcfus  iju'il  m'a  prononce  de  la  pan  de  ladirie 
Dame."  I)u  Plessis  enclosed  this  letter  to  the  French  resident  in  (.011- 
don.  desiring  him  to  show  It  to  Burleigh.  "  Nonobstani  qu'il  y  feust 
faict  mention  de  .M.  Houion  (Hation)  ..  .pource  qu'on  ne  nuit  jamais  il 
un  Ambassadeur  de  I'avoir  pour  suspect ;  ains  II  en  est  plus  recommend- 
•ble  au  Prince  de  qui  il  a  charge."— Tom.  v.  p.  ISI. 


272  DANGER  OF  THE  KING.  [cH.  XVIII. 

heard  their  drums  and  trumpets  ;  and  soon  after- 
ward,   having    gained    a   full    reconnoissance,    he 
counted  their  numbers,  amounting  to  26,000  men, 
marshalled  in  an  order  which  rendered  attack  hope- 
less  even   with  a  force  approaching  to   equality. 
Perceiving,  as  he  expressed  himself,  that  his  own 
followers  were  both  too  many  and  too  few,  he  or- 
dered 800  of  them  to  retire  and  to  draw  up  in  a  valley 
at  some  distance,  yet  so  as  to  be  at  hand  in  case  he 
should  be  pressed  ;  and  then,  to  the  astonishment 
of  all  around  him,  he  rode  forward  with  his  remain- 
ing one  hundred  men,  to  meet  the  hostile  columns. 
The  Prince  of  Parma,  descrying  the  handful  which 
confronted  him,  suspected  an  ambuscade  ;  and  not 
feeling  inclined  to  hazard  a  battle,   he  halted  his 
troops,   and    employed  himself  in  restraining  the 
ardour  which  they  manifested  for  combat.     His  pa- 
troles  at  length  convinced  him  that  no  larger  force 
than  that  which  he  saw  was  in  immediate  presence  ; 
and  that,  even  if  it  were  supported,  the  reserve 
could  not  be  stationed  nearer  than  in  the  distant 
valley.     The  wary  general  then  permitted  an  at- 
tack, which  was  made  so  briskly  and  from  so  many 
different  points  at  once,  that  the  king  and  his  fol- 
lowers were  speedily  driven  back  into  the  valley. 
The  Spaniards,  however,  still  believing  that  the  en- 
tire royal  army  was  behind,  reined  their  horses  on 
approaching  the  gorge,  where  Henry,  confident  of 
support,  called  out  to  the  troopers  whom  he  expected 
to  find  there  to  make  an  immediate  charge.     Not  a 
man,    however,   was   on  the    spot ;    either  panic- 
stricken  or  in  search  of  more  advantageous  ground, 
they  had  retired  far  beyond  ;    and  the  king,  thus 
disappointed,  was  compelled,  as  his  last  chance,  to 
continue  his  retreat  upon  Aumale.     The  attempt 
was  most  hazardous  ;  for  the  combat  was    imme- 
diately renewed,  and  continued  hand-to-hand,  with 
sword  and  pistol,  through  the  whole  range  of  the 
valley.    When  the  royalists  had  gained  a  bridge  at 


A.  D.   1592.]       LETTER  FROM  DU  PLESSIS.  273 

its  extremity,  sixty  out  of  the  hundred  had  fallen. 
Henry  placed  himself  in  the  rear  of  his  detach- 
ment, saw  it  defile  across  the  bridge  without  confu- 
sion, and  did  not  move  from  his  own  position  till 
every  man  in  the  squadron  had  passed.     At  that 
moment,  a  shot  struck  him  in  his  reins ;  but  the 
wound,  the  only  one  which  he  is  known  to  have 
received  in  the  course  of  all  his  campaigns,  was 
fortunately  inconsiderable  ;  and  the  tardy  but  op- 
portune appearance  of  the  remainder  of  his  horse 
revived  the  apprehensions  of  the  over-cautious  Far- 
nese,  who  immediately  checked  all  farther  pursuit.* 
While  Henry  was  recovering  from  the  hurt  suf- 
fered in  this  rash  enterprise,  which  he  afterward 
used  to  call  "the  blunder  of  Aumale,"  intelligence  of 
a  disastrous  sortie  from  Rouen  induced  him  to  raise 
the  siege.     It  was  at  that  time  also  that  he  received 
from  Du  Plessis  a  letter  which  must  have  touched 
him  both  by  its  boldness  and  its  loyalty.     "  Sire," 
was    the   remonstrance   of  that   wise  and  faithful 
servant,  "  I  do  not  think  that  j'our  majesty  can  ever 
do  me  so  much  good  as  you  have  done  me  ill  this 
day.     Every  one  of  your  faithful  servants  has  been 
tortured  by   apprehensions  of  fatal   consequences 
from  your  wound  ;  and  as  for  myself,  I  have  been 
like  one  inspecting  a  map  wherein  all,  except  the 
countries  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  is  laid  down 
as  a  frightful  desert  and  a  terra  incognita.     No  man, 
indeed,  can  look  beyond  your  life,  without  finding 
himself  enveloped  in  thick  darkness  and  inconceiv- 
able misery.     If  your  majesty  fails  to   understand 

*  We  have  chiefly  fallowed  Sully's  most  graphic  account  of  Ihis  Erreur 
(CAumdle  torn.  ii.  liv.  iv.  p.  fiO.  lie  shared  in  the  danger,  and  he  staled 
that  he  took  particular  pains  in  his  narrative  to  suppress  any  matters 
concerning  which  he  fell  doubtful.  He  notices,  however,  that  while 
himself  and  his  comrades  were  talking  over  the  events  of  the  day,  on 
the  very  evening  of  their  occurrence,  Kumd  the  bed  of  the  wounded 
king,  no  two  of  them  agreed  in  tho  exact  details.  It  is  not  a  little  re- 
markable that  D'Aubigne,  who  relates  this  engagement  minutely,  Hist. 
Univ.  torn.  iii.  liv.  iii.  c.  14,  p.  261,  does  not  at  all  mention  the  king's 
^ound. 


274  PRINCE  OF  PARMA  RETREATS.     [cH.  XVIII. 

this  for  your  own  sake,  you  should  learn  it  for  that 
of  your  servants.  We  praise  God  that  he  has  given 
us,  in  such  times  as  the  present,  avv^arlike  monarch; 
for  the  state  could  not  maintain  itself  under  a  prince 
skilled  only  in  the  cabinet  and  devoted  to  sedentary 
pursuits.  Nevertheless,  we  cannot  but  wish  that 
if  you  exceed  the  ordinary  bounds  of  a  king,  you 
would  limit  yourself  within  those  of  a  great  captain; 
and  that  after  having  played  the  part  of  Alexander 
for  thirty  years,  you  would  think  it  time  to  repre- 
sent that  of  Augustus.*  For  us,  sire,  to  die  for 
your  majesty  is  our  true  glory  ;  but  I  must  be  bold 
enough  to  add,  that  it  is  not  less  the  duty  of  your 
majesty  to  live  on  our  account.''! 

The  remaining  campaign  of  1592  is  distinguished 
in  military  history  by  the  consummate  general- 
ship of  the  Prince  of  Parma.  The  skill  with  which, 
although  suffering  from  a  painful  wound,  he  disen- 
M  20  S^gsd  himself  from  a  position  at  Caudebec, 
^^  ■  by  remaining  in  which  he  must  have  been 
compelled  to  fight  at  manifest  disadvantage,  aston- 
ished his  opponents.  Without  a  bridge,  and  with- 
out means  of  obtaining  boats  nearer  than  Rouen, 
he  transported  his  whole  army  across  the  Seine,  in  a 
single  night,  wholly  undiscovered ;  and  when  Henry, 
secure  of  his  prey,  rode  in  the  morning  to  marshal 
his  attack  against  the  camp  which  he  had  recon- 
noitred at  the  preceding  sunset,  not  a  vestige  of  it 
was  to  be  descried.  "Was  it  ,a  fable  or  an  illu- 
sion !"  exclaims  Sully  ;  "  scarcely  one  of  us  could  be- 
lieve the  testimony  of  his  eyes  !"J 

*  "  Apr^s  avoir  fain  jusqiips  A  trtnte  nns  rAlexandre,  Irs  ann(''PB  qui 
siiivent  rpquierent  que  voiis  (hisies  le  C^sar."  Aukhsius  is  plainly  in- 
tended here;  and  we  do  not  hesitate  in  .so  translating.  lint  whystiould 
the  orijjinal  Frencli  be  altered  in  its  pretended  citation  in  ono  of  tlie 
Notes  on  the  Hcriria  Ic?  "  Vous  avez  assez  fait  Alexandre,  il  est  temps 
que  vons  soyez  Angnste." 

t  The  Prince  of" Parma,  when  asked  his  opinion  of  this  retreat  from 
AumAle,  passed  a  sensible  and  a  most  characteristic  judgment.  "  Qu'en 
effet  elle  ostoit  fort  belle:  mais  que  pour  luy,  il  ne  se  mettoit  jamais  en 
lieu  d'oii  il  fust  conlraint  de  se  retirer." — Perefixe,  p.  200. 

4  Tom.  ii.  liv.  iv.  p.  79. 


A.  D.  1692.]  VENALITY    OF    THE    LEAGUERS.  275 

The  Prince  of  Parma,  however,  could  not  regret 
the  necessity  which  compelled  this  retreat.  It  was 
not  possible  that  much  cordiality  should  exist  be- 
tween confederates  who  were  aiming  at  objects 
directly  opposed  to  each  other;  and  the  very  merits 
which  established  Farnese's  immeasurable  supe- 
riority in  the  field  increased  the  jealousy  of  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne.  It  was  for  themselves,  he  said, 
and  not  for  their  ostensible  allies,  that  the  Spaniards 
had  taken  arms  :  it  was  for  their  own  advantage  that 
they  negotiated,  everywhere  employing  their  four 
most  powerful  engines, — intrigues,  promises,  gold, 
and  the  Jesuits.*  Nevertheless,  in  the  negotiations 
which  Mayenne  held  fi'om  time  to  time  with  the 
Spanish  agents,  no  backwardness  had  been  exhib- 
ited in  sanctioning  the  application  of  those  very 
instruments  against  which  he  inveighed.  The 
election  of  the  infanta  to  the  French  crown  was 
to  be  secured,  in  spite  of  the  Salic  law,  provided  she 
undertook  to  marry  within  twelve  months,  accord- 
ing to  the  advice  of  her  counsellors  of  state ;  and 
since  there  was  little  appearance  of  discomfiting  the 
heretic  Bearnois  by  force  of  arms,  it  would  be  ab- 
solutely necessary  that  the  King  of  Spain  should  dis- 
burse at  least  eight,  or,  as  it  was  afterward  ar- 
ranged, ten  millions,  within  two  years,  "  to  pacify 
and  to  confirm  the  kingdom,  and  to  reduce  it  under 
obedience  to  his  daughter  the  infanta."  There  were 
princes,  it  was  said,  governors  of  provinces,  noble- 
men of  both  parties,  whose  hearts  must  be  gained,  in 
order  that  the  matter  might  be  properly  adjusted  in 
the  States-General ;  and  it  was  plain  that  this  con- 
summation so  greatly  to  be  desired  could  be  effected 
only  by  a  large  expenditure  of  money.  The  Prince 
of  Parma  must  have  been  disgusted  by  the  forward 
and  unblushing  venality  with  which  those  whom  it 

♦  LettTi  lie  M.  Du  Plcssis,  «  M.  de  Buxenval,  torn.  v.  p.  214. 


276  DEATH    OF  MARECHAL    BIRON      [cH.  XVIII. 

was  his  especial  mission  to  corrupt  thus  tendered 
themselves  to  prostitution.* 

Fruitless  negotiations,  in  the  conduct  of  which  it 
is  probable  that  none  of  the  parties  concerned  were 
sincere,  and  detached  military  operations,  unproduc- 
tive of  any  permanent  result,  occupied  the  remainder 
of  this  year.  It  was  said  that  Biron,  by  greater 
activity,  might  have  prevented  the  Prince  of  Parma's 
retreat ;  but  that,  viewing  with  apprehension  the 
close  of  a  war  from  which  he  derived  his  chief  im- 
portance, he  angrily  rejected  a  decisive  movement 
proposed  by  his  son,  asking  him  if  he  were  indeed 
blockhead  enough  to  wish  "  to  plant  cabbages  at 
Biron  for  the  rest  of  his  days  V'f  If  this  speech 
were  really  uttered,  he  purchased  the  chance  of  con- 
tinued greatness  at  no  less  a  price  than  that  of  life  ; 
for,  within  three  months,  he  was  killed  by  a 

"'^^'^^  cannon-ball,  while  reconnoitring  the  out- 
works of  Espernay  sur  Marne.  Biron  was  in  all 
points  a  finished  soldier ;  he  had  risen,  not  by  patron- 
age, but  by  sheer  merit,  through  each  successive 
degree  of  military  service.  Besides  having  been 
present  at  innumerable  sieges  and  engagements,  he 
had  held  chief  command  in  seven  pitched  battles ; 
and  had  received  as  many  gunshot  wounds,  all  of 
them  in  front.  Nor  was  he  without  considerable 
proficiency  in  letters  also.  He  wrote  Commentaries 
on  his  own  Times,  and  a  Treatise  on  the  Duties  of  a 
Field  Marshal,  the  loss  of  both  which  works  is 
poignantly  regretted  by  De  Thou,  a  critic  well 
qualified  to  appreciate  their  real  value. J 

*  Dcspechc  (/w  Due  de  I'arme  aw  Roy  d'Espagne.  .Tan.  1599.  Du 
Plessis,  torn.  v.  p.  137.  The  I'rince  of  Parma  expressly  states  the  above 
proposition  lo  have  emanated  from  Ic  President  Janin  et  M.  de  Chastrc, 
Deptites  du  Dw.  de  Mfiyiine  a  cestctiv.  But  since  the  election  of  the 
infanta  was  in  all  points  contrary  to  Mayenne's  own  personal  interests, 
it  is  probable  that  the  agents  were  instructed  to  temporize  and  dissemble. 

t  "  Quoy  done,  maraut,  nous  veux-tu  envoyer  planter  des  choux  it 
Biron  ?"— Pereflxe,  p.  197. 

t  cUi.  6. 


A.  D.    1592.]    AND  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  PARMA.  277 

Mayenne,  weakened  by  the  retirement  of  his 
Spanish  auxiliaries,  and  jealous  of  his  nephew  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  both  on  account  of  the  superior  in- 
fluence which  he  had  acquired  with  the  league,  and 
of  the  seeming  probability  that  he  would  be  selected 
as  the  husband  of  the  infanta,  renewed  a  negotiation 
which  he  had  opened  with  the  king,  before  the  aban- 
donment of  the  siege  of  Rouen :  but  his  unreason- 
able preliminary  demand  of  immediate  conversion 
rendered  the  treaty  abortive.  Henry  was  chiefly 
employed  in  constructing  works  to  assist  a  future 
blockade  of  Paris  ;*  little  concerning  himself  at  the 
approaching  assemblageofthe  States-General,  which 
Mayenne,  after  exhausting  every  subterfuge  to  pro- 
cure delay,  had  been  forced  to  convoke  for  the  ensu- 
ing January.  The  legate  (Sega,  Cardinal  of  Pla- 
centia),  the  Spanish  ministers,  and  the  rump  of  the 
Seize  eagerly  awaited  the  return  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  the  presence  of  whose  army  could  not  but 
greatly  influence  the  election  of  the  infanta  ;  but 
their  hopes  were  frustrated  by  his  death, 
at  Arras,  while  he  was  preparing  to  enter  ^*^'^" 
France  for  the  third  time.  The  wound  which  he 
had  received  at  Caudebec,  having  been  neglected 
during  his  subsequent  active  movements,  produced 
dropsical  symptoms  in  a  constitution  naturally  weak, 
and  brought  him  to  the  grave  at  the  premature  age 
of  forty-seven  years. f 

During  the  negotiations  in  which  Henry  had  been 
recently  engaged,  he  could  not  fail  to  perceive  that 
the  majority  of  the  league  was  well   inclined  to 

*  One  of  these  forts,  on  tho  Isle  tie  Gournay,  intended  to  prevent  the 
conveyance  of  supplies  to  ih';  c;»pitril  by  the  Marne.  received  the  name 
of  Piile-badaud. — Cnyet.  Chrrn.  Xiw.  torn.  ii.  p.  72;  for  wliich  pleas- 
antry our  language  does  not  furnish  an  equivalent.  "  Badaud  and  Ba- 
daude,"  say  some  of  the  dictionaries  very  gravely,  "are  nicknames 
given  to  the  inhabitants  of  Paris,  because  tUoy  are  apt  to  adnnire  any 
thing  that  seems  a  little  extraordinary."  Cockney,  although  not  a  syn- 
onyme,  is  perhaps  the  most  analogous  word.  In  the  Satyre  Menippie, 
torn.  i.  p.  155,  the  name  is  given  Bnde-badaud. 

t  DeThou,  civ.  3. 

V(.L.  II.— A  a 


278  RELIGIOUS  OPINIONS  OF  [CH.  XVIII, 

peace  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  insight  thus  ob- 
tained by  him  into  the  real  state  of  parties  first 
directed  his  thoughts  seriously  towards  his  subse- 
quent great  change.  His  education,  his  personal 
habits,  and  the  evil  temper  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived  were  equally  adverse  to  any  deeply  rooted 
and  spiritual  attachment  to  the  Reformed  faith. 
For  above  half  a  century,  indeed,  religion  had  been 
the  watchword  of  conflicting  factions,  but  in  how 
few  instances  was  more  than  the  name  to  be  found 
among  the  leaders  by  whom  it  had  been  adopted ! 
It  cannot  be  dissembled  that  the  civil  wars  in 
France  had  arisen  out  of  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the 
houses  of  Bourbon  and  of  Lorraine  ;  that  they  had 
been  continued  by  the  increasing  ambition  of  tlie 
Guises  ;  and  that,  during  their  progress,  each  of  the 
competitors  had  derived  strength  by  assuming  the 
patronage  of  a  rival  church.*  Difference  of  faith, 
however,  had  been  prominently  advanced  as  the 
real  motive  of  contest ;  and,  doubtless,  many  of 
those  who  fought  and  suffered,  who  laid  down  their 
lives  on  the  field  of  battle  or  on  the  scaffold,  were 
animated  by  sincere  conviction  of  the  truth  of  that 
cause  which  they  had  espoused.  But,  after  all,  the 
struggle  was  essentially  for  political  superioritj^ 
Hitherto,  the  Kmg  of  Navarre  had  enjoyed,  as  pro- 
tector of  the  Reformed  Church,  a  lofty  station  and 
a  paramount  influence  among  one  division  of  his 
countrymen,  of  which  he  must  have  been  for  ever 
deprived  by  conformity  to  the  Romish  religion. 
Apostacy  would  have  exposed  him  to  the  hatred 

*  "  Le  bien  public  e.sloit  le  ctiarnic  et  ensorccUemcnt  qui  bouschoit 
I'oreille  d  nos  predecesseurs:  inais  I'ambilion  et  la  vengeance  de  ces 
deux  grandes  maisons  en  estoil  la  vraye  et  primitive  cause,  comtne  la  fin 
le  descouvrit.  Aussi  vous  ay-je  deduit  que  prcmitrcincnt  la  jalousie  et 
envie  de  ces  deux  maisons  de  Bourbon  et  de  Lorraine,  puis  la  seule  am- 
bition et  convoitise  de  ceux  de  (Juvse,  out  este  et  sont  la  seule  cause  de 
lous  nos  maux.  Mais  la  lieligion  Catholique  et  Romaine  est  le  breuvage 
qui  nous  infatufi  et  endori,  comme  une  opiate  bien  euccrte." — Ilarangut 
dt  M.  d'Aubray.    Hat.  Men.  torn.  i.  p.  161. 


A.  D.  1592.]  HENRY    IV.  279 

of  those  whom  he  abandoned,  to  the  scorn  of  those 
whom  he  espoused.  But,  as  King  of  France,  every 
temporal  motive  which  heretofore  prompted  and  cor- 
roborated his  firmness  now  allured  him  to  change. 
A  life  passed  in  rapid  alternations  of  peril  and  of 
pleasure  afforded  few  intervals  for  graver  thought ; 
and  it  is  little  to  be  supposed  that  religion  had  at 
any  time  been  his  study.  No  one,  perhaps,  was 
ever  less  influenced  by  fear  than  was  Henry  of 
Navarre ;  yet  we  have  seen  him  during  the  horrors 
of  the  St.  Bartholomew  (when  the  example  of  his 
fellow-prisoner,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  might  have 
taught  him  greater  constancy),  consenting  to  abju- 
ration with  a  facility  which  can  be  attributed  only 
to  the  most  careless  indifference.  In  his  present 
circumstances,  too  rapid  a  transition  would  have 
been  injurious  to  the  reputation  which  above  all 
things  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  preserve  ; 
but  we  may  believe  that  when  he  first  consented  to 
admit "  instruction,"  he  had  already  conquered  every 
private  scruple  ;  and  that  he  fully  resolved  upon 
his  ultimate  course,  when  he  now  discovered  that 
such  a  course  would  dissipate  the  sole  obstacles  to 
his  recognition  by  the  party  which  predominated 
among  his  opponents. 

Sully,  indeed,  as  is  well  known,  claims  to  him- 
self the  dubious  merit  of  having  first  awakened 
in  Henry's  mind  the  train  of  thought  which  occa- 
sioned his  change  of  sentiment;  and  Sully  no  doubt 
honestly  believed  all  that  he  so  afllrmed.  But  it  is 
little  likely  that  the  circumstances  which  had  con- 
vinced that  sagacious  statesman  of  the  policy  of  such 
a  measure,  should  have  escaped  the  equally  pene- 
trating observation  of  Henry.  The  crisis,  probably, 
excited  in  each  of  them  a  similar  and  nearly  a  si- 
multaneous persuasion  ;  and  when  the  subject  was 
broken  to  him  by  Sully,  the  king  might  think  it 
unnecessary  to  reveal,  or  rather  might  gladly  dis- 


280  COMMUNICATION  WITH    ROME.     [CH.  XVIII. 

semble,  how  fully  his  own  previous  reflections  had 
prepared  him  for  the  discussion.* 

Before  the  assembling  of  the  States-General  in 
Octobe  P^"s  (^he  spot  which  by  Mayenne's  desire 
had  been  appointed  for  that  purpose  in  pre- 
ference to  Rheims,  a  city  altogether  under  Spanish 
influence),  an  attempt  had  been  made  by  the  Roman- 
ists in  Henry's  service  to  open  a  communication 
with  the  Vatican,  and  to  notify  the  king's  readiness 
to  be  "  instructed."  The  new  pope,  Clement  VIII., 
actuated  by  feelings  similar  to  those  which  had 
operated  upon  his  immediate  predecessor,  at  first 
refused  audience  to  the  Cardinal  of  Gondi  and  the 
Marquis  di  Pisani,  who  were  employed  as  negotia- 
tors. But  their  mission,  although  unfaithfully  exe- 
cuted by  the  former,!  produced  favourable  results 
in  the  end.  When  the  day  of  the  meeting  of  the 
states  was  at  hand,  Mayenne  published  a  declara- 
tion, justifying  the  course  of  the  league,  inveighing 
against  the  recognition  of  a  heretic  king,  and  inviting 
the  Romanist  leaders  to  quit  Henry's  camp,  in  order 
to  join  in  the  deliberations  upon  which,  as  he  cau- 
tiously expressed  himself,  the  states  were  about  to 
enter  for  the  attainment  of  public  tranquillity.  A 
far  more  vehement  letter  was  addressed  to  them  by 
the  legate,  who  concluded  by  openly  asserting  the 
necessity  of  proceeding  to  the  immediate  election 
of  "  a  true  Christian  and  Catholic  king."  Henry,  in 
reply,  controverted  the  arguments  of  both  these 
papers  ;  protested  against  the  states  as  altogether 
illegal ;  and  pronounced,  by  anticipation,  any  decree 
which  might  issue  from  them  to  be  utterly  null  and 
invalid. t 

The  proceedings  of  this  assembly,  when  it  did 

*  The  account  given  by  Sully  of  his  interception  of  the  despatches 
addressed  by  the  leaguers  lo  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the  consequeni  re- 
presentations which  lie  made  to  Henry,  and  which,  as  he  believed,  occa- 
sioned the  king's  conversion,  are  among  the  most  curious  parts  of  that 
great  man's  Memoires.  torn.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  114. 

t  Remargues  g7ir  La  Safyre  Menippce,  lorn.  ii.  1^.  127. 

X  DeThou.cv.  11,  12,14. 


A.  D.   1593.]         THE  SATYRE  MENIPPEE.  281 

meet,  were  trifling  and  nugatory  ;  and  they  have  at- 
tained a  celebrity  of  which  in  themselves  they  were 
undeserving,  from  their  exposure  in  a  most  poignant 
and  agreeable  satire.  The  Satyre  Menippee,  the  ioint 
production  of  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  polite 
writers  of  the  time,  contributed  greatly  to  Henry's 
advantage  at  the  moment  of  its  publication,*  by  ex- 
posing his  enemies  to  keen  and  searching  ridicule ; 
and  from  its  perusal,  together  with  that  of  the  copi- 
ous illustrations  with  which  it  has  been  enriched,  a 
far  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  perplexed  in- 
trigues which  it  exposes  may  even  now  be  derived 
than  can  be  obtained  from  any  graver  sources. 
Whatever  difficulty  we  at  first  encounter  in  the  full 
perception  of  its  many  fine  strokes  of  personal  hu- 
mour will  wear  away  as  we  become  familiarized 
with  the  characters  of  the  drama  before  us  ;  and  we 
shall  gradually  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  the 
unrivalled  triumph  which  wit  has  achieved  in  its 
pages,  by  imparting  a  general  and  permanent  in- 
terest to  a  work  dictated  by  party  feeling,  and  ad- 
dressed to  a  temporary  purpose. 

The  deputies  assembled,  with  the  cus- 
tomary formalities,  in  the  great  hall  of  the   j^^^^ 
Louvre,  on  the  26th  of  January.     The  Duke 
of  Mayenne,  as  lieutenant-general  of  the  state,  ap- 
peared seated  on  a  dais,  under  a  canopy  of  cloth  of 
gold ;  the  clergy  were  numerous,  the  nobles  few ; 
and  in  order  to  atone  for  their  scantiness,  and  to 
enhance  his  apparent  authority,  Mayenne  exercised 
the  royal  prerogative  by  creating  four  marechals  of 
France  ;t    "  Bastards,  who,"  as  he  was  truly  and 
pointedly   warned    by   the   Sieur   de    Chauvallon, 
"  would  one  day  legitimate  themselves  at  his  cost 

*  The  first  edition  of  the  Satyre  Metiipp^e  bears  the  dale  of  1593, 
towards  the  close  of  which  year  it  was  probably  commenced  ;  bul  Vol- 
taire has  argued,  from  inlernal  evidence,  that  it  could  not  have  been  pub- 
lished till  1594.  after  the  king's  abjuration.— .Vc/aiig-ei  Histor.  Art.  xvi. 

t  Tbe  Sieurs  de  Chastre,  de  Boisdauphin,  Rosae,  and  St.  Paul. 

Aa2 


282  THE    SATYRE  MENIPPEE.         [cH.  XVIII. 

and  charge."*  The  speakers  were  Mayeiine  him- 
self, who  briefly  announced  the  object  of  the  con- 
vention ;  the  Cardinal  of  Pelleve,  for  the  clergy ; 
the  Baron  of  Sennesay,  for  the  noblesse  ,t  and  the 
Sieur  de  Laurens,  advocate-general  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Provence,  for  the  Tiers-Etdt. 

It  is  this  first  day's  meeting  which  is  recorded  in 
the  Satyre  Menippee.  After  an  introductory  ac- 
count of  the  legate  and  the  Cardinal  Pelleve,  who 
are  represented  as  two  charlatans,  one  a  Spaniard, 
the  other  a  Lorrainer,  dispensing  the  Catholicon  (a 
drug,  the  marvellous  virtues  of  which  are  fully  ex- 
pounded, and  which  may  be  interpreted  as  pretended 
zeal  for  religion),  the  muster  of  the  monks,  which 
really  occurred  at  the  public  entrance  of  Caietano,  is 
described,  as  if  it  were  preliminary  to  the  opening 
of  the  states.  The  furniture  and  arrangement  of 
the  hall  of  assembly,  the  dresses  and  demeanour  of 
the  chief  assistants,  among  whom  the  Duchess  of 
Montpensier  and  other  notorious  female  leaguers 
are  admitted,  and  the  settlement  of  precedence 
among  the  deputies,  afford  room  for  many  touches 
of  playfulness.  It  was  only  this  germ  of  the  larger 
work  which  was  originally  published  ;  and  it  was 
written  by  Pierre  le  Roy,J  a  canon  of  Rouen,  and  al- 
moner to  the  young  Cardinal  of  Bourbon.  The  avid- 
ity with  which  his  brochure  was  read  and  circulated 
soon  engaged  several  friends  to  assist  in  its  expan- 
sion. Gillot,  an  advocate  of  whom  little  else  is 
known,^  contributed  the  short  speech  of  the  legate. 
That  of  the  Cardinal  Pelleve  is  the  production  of 
Florent  Chretien,  a  gentleman  of  Orleans,  to  whose 
care  the  education  of  Henry  of  Navarre  was  in- 
trusted, when  the  death  of  his  father  permitted  the 

*  Sully,  torn.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  1,'>2,  note. 

t  He  had  executed  a  similar  function  with  great  eloquence  at  the 
states  of  Hlois  in  1588.    Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  284. 

I  Oe  Thou,  cv.  18. 

$  We  shall  find  him  mentioned  by-and  by  in  a  remarkable  transaction 
with  the  Jesuit  Cotton,  confessor  to  Henry  IV. 


A.  D.   1593.]  THE  SATYRE  MENIPPEE.  283 

substitution  of  a  Huguenot  for  a  Romanist  preceptor. 
Chretien  was  a  scholar  of  very  extensive  attain- 
ments, and  his  powers  of  satire  had  already  been 
exhibited  to  advantage  in  a  quarrel  with  the  poet 
Ronsard,*  an  antagonist  of  no  mean  repute.  The 
Cardinal  of  Pelleve  afforded  many  vulnerable  points 
to  a  skilful  assailant,  and  none  of  them  was  neg- 
lected. At  the  council  of  Trent  he  had  declared 
himself  in  unmeasured  terms  against  the  liberties 
of  the  Gallican  Church  ;  he  had  been  the  chief  pro- 
moter of  the  excommunication  which  Sixtus  V. 
directed  against  the  Bourbon  princes  ;  and  now,  in 
the  states,  he  was  among  the  most  active  supporters 
of  the  faction  of  Lorraine.  Ilis  lack  of  learning 
fairly  exposed  him  to  attack  ;  and  accordingly,  when 
the  herald  Courtejoye  St.  Denys  marshals  him  in  his 
place,  it  is  in  terms  sufficiently  indicative  of  con- 
tempt. "  Take  your  seat,  M.  le  Cardinal,  and  be 
careful  not  to  forget  your  calepin."t  The  unfortu- 
nate postponement  of  a  single  day  had  in  reality 
been  attended  with  fatal  consequences  to  the  ha- 
rangue which  the  cardinal  had  long  premeditated. 
The  meeting,  at  first  appointed  for  the  feast  of  the 
conversion  of  St.  Paul,  was  delayed,  on  account 
of  Mayenne's  indisposition,J  to  the  martyrdom  of 
Policarp  on  the  following  morning ;  and  an  at- 
tempt made  by  the  unhappy  orator  to  apply  the 
materials  which  he  had  collected  in  allusion  to 
one  festival  to  the  purposes  of  another,  of  a  wholly 
different  nature,  raised  a  smile  in  the  assembly.^ 
It  is  probable  that  he  was  verging  to  superannua- 
tion, for,  before  his  conclusion,  he  became  en- 
tangled in  certain  most  inopportune  allusions  to 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne  ;  which,  remote  as  they  were 

*  Under  the  name  of  Francois   de  la  Baronoia.    See  the  Eloge  of 
CbrAtien,  De  Thou,  cxvii.  9. 

t  Satyre  Memppie,  loin.  i.  p.  27. 

♦  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  r-  380- 

5  Satjfre  Menippse,  torn.  i.  p.  57.     De  Thou,  cv.  18l 


284  THE  SATYRE  MENIPPEE.  [oH.  XVIH. 

from  the  intention  of  the  speaker,  were  at  once  ap- 
plied by  all  his  hearers,  and  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  most  offensive  to  their  object.  It  need  not  be 
added  that  the  satirist  has  abundantly  profited  by 
the  openings  thus  afforded  to  him. 

Espinac,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  and  Roze,  Bishop 
of  Senlis  were  ecclesiastics  too  conspicuous  both 
for  their  fanaticism  and  their  immorality  to  pass  un- 
noticed ;  and  characteristic  speeches  were  accord- 
ingly written  under  their  names  by  Nicolas  Rapin, 
to  whom  are  ascribed  all  the  pieces  of  verse  inter- 
spersed in  the  course  of  the  Satyre.  The  oration 
for  the  noblesse  is  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  Sieur 
de  Rieux,  a  low-born  partisan  of  the  league,  who, 
having  rendered  himself  useful  by  some  acts  of  ex- 
traordinary daring,  and  infamous  by  his  unparalleled 
cruelties,  was  hanged  not  long  afterward  as  a  brig- 
and.* But  the  most  elaborate  portion  of  the  whole 
work  is  the  speech  of  M.  Claude  d'Aubray,  the  im- 
aginary orator  of  the  Tiers-Etat.  Aubray  was  well 
selected  for  this  purpose  ;  he  had  filled  the  high  civic 
olRce  of  provost  of  the  merchants,  and  he  was  de- 
servedly regarded  as  chief  of  the  Politiques.  His 
speech  is  of  a  severer  cast  and  of  a  much  more  con- 
siderable length  than  any  of  the  others ;  and  we  know 
not  where  to  find  a  more  just  and  more  perspicuous 
sketch  of  the  history  of  the  civil  wars  from  their 
commencement.  It  was  written  by  Pithou,  a  Hu- 
guenot, who  had  narrowly  escaped  during  the  St. 
Bartholomew,  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  sub- 
sequent conformity  to  the  Romish  faith,  rendered 
essential  service  to  the  Reformed  cause  by  his  stren- 
uous opposition  to  the  league.  I)e  Thou,  who  was 
intimately  connected  with  this  eminent  man,  speaks 
of  him  in  terms  of  strong  attachment  and  admiration, 
as  the  most  finished  scholar  of  his  day ;  and  as  no 

•  Remarqucs  sur  La  Satyre  Menippie,  torn.  ii.  p.  237.    De  Thou,  cv.  18. 


A.  D.  1593.]    PROPOSALS  FOR  A  CONFERENCE.         285 

less  remarkable  for  probity  and  piety,  than  for 
rare  gifts  of  intellect,  and  variety  and  accuracy  of 
knowledge.* 

Two  days  after  the  first  meeting  of  the 
states,  the  Romanist  leaders  in  Henry's  ^"'  ' 
service  proposed  a  conference  with  the  deputies, 
"  well  knowing,"  as  they  said,  "  the  good  and  holy 
intentions  of  his  majesty,  having  received  from  him 
a  promise,  and  feeling  assured  that  they  could  pro- 
vide a  remedy  for  the  national  calamities."  The 
Spanish  faction,  struck  with  consternation 
at  this  unexpected  overture,  pronounced  ^  '  " 
the  offer  to  be  heretical,  blasphemous,  and  full  of 
rebellion  against  the  Church  ;  and  obtained  a  decree 
to  that  effect  from  their  puppets  in  the  Sorbonne. 
But  the  states  were  far  from  proceeding  v.ith  equal 
violence.  They  resolved,  indeed,  that  they  would 
not  treat  either  directly  or  indirectly  with  the  King 
of  Navarre,  or  with  any  other  heretic,  upon  either 
politics  or  religion ;  but,  as  a  middle  term,  they 
agreed  to  the  propriety  of  conferring  with  their  bro- 
ther Catholics  belonging  to  his  partj-,  on  matters 
connected  with  politics,  with  religion,  with  the 
national  welfare,  and  with  their  reunion  to  the 
Church.  Thej'  determined,  therefore,  that  after  a 
reference  to  the  legate,  they  would  return  an  answer 
couched  in  the  mildest  and  most  gracious  language  ; 
provided  always,  that  both  in  that  answer  and  in  any 
conference  which  might  succeed,  especial  care 
should  be  taken  to  maintain  the  reasons  upon  which 
they  were  firmly  resolved  never  to  acknowledge  any 
heretic  as  king.f 

♦  cxvii.  9.  Pilhou,  who  wan  a  Doctor  or  Laws  in  the  universities  of 
Louvaine  and  Bourges,  was  incorporated  ad  eundcm  at  Oxford,  in  .lune, 
1572.  Fuller  describes  him  as  "at  this  time  n  sojourner  in  Oxliird, 
where  he  continued  for  some  years  for  the  suke  of  study  and  converse, 
and  afierward  hncame  famous  for  his  exact  knowlndec  m  all  antiquities, 
ecclesiast  cal  history,  law.  Sec.  All  the  great  men  of  his  tune  did 
make  honourable  inenlion  of  him  in  their  respective  v/orks  ;  and  some 
did  dedicate  iheir  writings  to  him  and  his  brother,  Francis  Pithceus,  as 
the  lights  of  France."— Fasti  Oxonienses,  part  i.  p.  ISO. 

t  De  Thou,  cv.  15, 16. 


286  CONFERENCE    AT    SUUEKNE.  [cH.  XVIIT. 

The  Duke  of  Mayenne,  relying  more  upon  success 
in  the  field  than  in  the  cabinet,  and  having  instructed 
his  agents  to  delay  the  final  resolutions  of  the  states 
as  long  as  possible,  quitted  Paris,  and  un- 
dertook the  siege  of  Noyon.  Notwith- 
standing his  success  before  that  town,  and  the  arrival 
of  the  Duke  of  Feria  as  plenipotentiary  from  Spain, 
to  urge  afresh  the  immediate  election  of  a  Catholic 
king,  commissioners  were  named  both  by  the  states 
and  by  the  royalists,  to  manage  the  proposed  con- 
ference. The  village  of  Surenne,  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Seine,  was  chosen  as  the  spot  on  which 
it  should  take  place;  and  a  prosperous  omen  was 
drawn  by  the  league  from  an  accident  which  deter- 
mined the  assignment  of  quarters.  A  crown-piece, 
tossed  up  to  decide  the  priority  of  choice,  fell  with 
that  side  uppermost  upon  which  was  stamped  a  cross, 
and  gave  the  commissionersof  theleague  that  moiety 
of  Surenne  in  which  the  church  was  situated.  No 
presage,  it  was  affirmed,  could  be  more  auspicious 
to  that  holy  union  which  arrogated  to  itself  exclusive 
belief  both  in  the  cross  and  in  the  church.* 

The  conference  opened  on  the  29th  of  April, 
and  the  main  arguments  employed  on  that 
^"  ■  and  the  following  sittings  are  transmitted 
to  us  with  considerable  minuteness  by  De  Thou.f 
himself  one  of  the  deputies  on  the  part  of  the  royal- 
ists. After  mutual  professions  of  a  sincere  desire  of 
amity,  Renaud  de  Beaune,  Archbishop  of  Bourges, 
as  chief  spokesman  in  behalf  of  the  king's  servants, 
urged  that  the  attainment  of  peace  would  be  impos- 
sible till  a  legitimate  sovereign  authority  should  be 
established ;  and  that  it  was  idle  to  look  for  a  legiti- 
mate king  elsewhere  than  in  that  royal  line  which 
could  trace  itself  incontrovertibly  to  St.  Louis.     All 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  319. 

t  cvi.  1.  See  also  Cayet,  Chron.  Novennaire,  torn.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  149  ,  4cc. 


A.  D.  1593.]    SPEECH  OP  THE  ABP.  OF  LYONS.         287 

authority  being  derived  from  God,  submission  might 
be  tendered  with  a  safe  conscience  to  a  prince 
who,  notwithstanding  certain  mistakes,  was,  never- 
theless, essentially  a  Christian.  Let  but  such  a 
prince  be  taught  that  his  nobles  warred  not  against 
his  person,  but  against  his  errors  ;  and  the  common 
agreement  of  all  parties  would  soon  produce  secu- 
rity for  religion  and  a  firm  basis  for  pacification. 

The  Archbishop  of  Lyons  commenced  his  reply 
by  agreeing  to  the  necessity  of  a  determinate 
sovereign  authority,  but  he  contended  that  even 
such  an  authority  would  be  useless  towards  the  res- 
toration of  peace,  without  previous  concord  in  reli- 
gion. He  then  rebutted  an  application  which  had 
been  made  by  his  antagonist,  of  St.  Paul's  precept 
of  obedience  to  rulers  even  if  they  were  evil.  The 
divine  law,  he  said,  rejected  the  authority  of  any 
king  who  might  lead  the  people  back  again  to  the 
idolatry  of  Egypt.  Hence,  indeed,  had  arisen  the 
revolts  from  Jeroboam  and  from  Jehoram  ;  hence 
Amaziah,  after  he  had  fallen  away  from  righteous- 
ness, was  slain  at  Lachish  ;  hence  queen  Athaliah 
was  deposed  and  put  to  a  merited  death  by  Jehoiada 
the  priest.  He  next  fortified  himself  by  the  decrees 
of  councils.  That  of  Lateran,  under  Innocent  HL, 
which  enjoined  the  persecution  of  heretics,  even 
unto  death ;  and  absolved  all  subjects  from  their  al- 
legiance to  princes  who  should  refuse  to  become 
tools  of  ecclesiastical  vengeance,  was  so  fully  ad- 
mitted by  the  kings  of  France,  as  to  form  a  portion 
of  their  coronation  oath;  and  had  indeed  received  far- 
ther confirmation  from  the  fourth  council  of  Toledo. 
To  the  sanction  of  the  divine  law  might  be  added 
the  usage  of  antiquity,  and  the  example  of  the  early 
Christians.  The  resistance  of  Matatthias  and  the 
Maccabees  to  Antiochus  ;  the  revolts  from  Licinius 
and  Maxentius,  both  deservedly  put  to  death  by 
Constantine ;  the  opposition  raised  by  Constans  to 
his  brother  Constantius,  when,  infected  by  the  pesti- 


288  SPEECH  OF  THE  ABP.  OF  LYONS.     [CH.  XVIII. 

lence  of  Arianisni,  he  had  consented  to  the  deposi- 
tion of  Athanasius  ;  and  the  vehement  language 
employed  by  the  fathers  against  heretic  princes, 
were  cited  as  so  many  testimonies  in  favour  of  the 
orator's  position.  Did  not  those  eloquent  writers 
stigmatize  apostate  rulers  as  wolves,  dogs,  serpents, 
tigers,  ravening  lions,  and  antichrists  ?  Not  to  speak 
of  the  Testament  of  St.  Remy,  and  of  yet  more 
ancient  sanctions,  the  oath  by  which  the  kings  of 
France  bound  themselves  at  their  Sacre,  peremp- 
torily excluded  any  but  a  Catholic  from  the  throne. 
Passing  on  to  later  times,  in  order  to  exhibit  the 
danger  of  submission  to  princes  alien  from  the 
national  religion,  he  deplored  the  schism  in  England 
under  Henry  VIII.  ;  the  facility  with  which  his  son 
Edward  VI.  eradicated  the  true  church  from  his 
dominions;  and  even  after  the  short  restoration 
which  Mary  effected,  the  rapidity  with  which  her 
sister  Elizabeth  had  overthrown  that  pious  work.  In 
like  manner,  the  necessity  of  caution  was  evinced 
by  the  recent  alternations  of  Lutheranism  and  Cal- 
vinism in  Saxony.  Legitimacy  of  succession,  he 
urged,  did  not  wholly  depend  upon  descent ;  and 
kings,  unless  appointed  by  God  and  approved  by  his 
vicars  and  ministers,  were  not  to  be  esteemed  legiti- 
mate. Could  it  be  supposed  that  if  St.  Louis  were 
to  rise  from  the  grave,  he  would  acknowledge  as 
his  genuine  lineage  those  who  sought  to  extermi- 
nate the  religion  which  it  had  been  the  chief  object 
of  his  existence  to  assert?  Espinac  concluded  by 
allusions  to  the  former  conversion  and  relapse  of 
the  king  of  Navarre  ;  and  particularized  numerous 
transactions  of  late  occurrence,  which  took  away 
all  confidence  in  his  sincerity  on  matters  of  religion. 
In  the  words  of  Moses,  therefore,  he  exhorted  hia 
brethren  that  they  "  should  depart  from  the  tents  of 
those  wicked  men,  and  touch  nothing  of  them  lest 
they  be  consumed   in  all  their  sins."* 

•  De  Thou,  cvi.  3, 


A.  D.  1593.]  UEPLY  OF  THE  ABP.  OF  BOURGES.   289 

After  a  short  pause  and  some  consultation  with 
his  assessors,  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges  answered 
the  several  heads  of  his  opponent's  speech.  He 
produced  Nebuchadnezzar  as  a  king  sanctioned  by 
God,  and  triumphant  over  Jehoiakim  and  Zedekiah, 
notwithstanding  that  he  diflercd  in  religion  from  the 
Israelites.  But  King  Henry,  he  said,  was  far  from 
being  addicted  to  the  idolatry  of  Nebuchadnezzar  or 
of  the  Gentiles.  Moreover,  instead  of  being  an  elect- 
ive prince,  he  was  of  royal  blood,  and  inherited  the 
throne  through  a  direct  and  unbroken  lineage.  For 
his  errors,  which  there  was  daily  more  and  more 
hope  that  he  would  abandon,  much  excuse  might  be 
pleaded.  He  had  been  educated  in  them  ;  and,  like 
St.  Paul,  he  sinned  from  ignorance.  He  was  not 
an  inventor  of  false  doctrine,  but  he  had  imbibed  it 
with  his  mother's  milk.  He  was  scarcely,  indeed,  to 
be  deemed  a  heretic,  for  he  sought  the  truth  with 
earnestness,  and  was  prepared  to  adopt  it  as  soon 
as  it  should  be  discovered.  Abstinence  from  all  in- 
tercourse with  heretics  might  be  practicable  in  the 
apostolic  times,  when  Christians  were  few  in  num- 
ber ;  but  now,  when  Christianity  pervaded  all  Eu- 
rope, and  sectaries  were  everywhere  numerous,  he 
who  resolved  not  to  mix  with  them  in  society,  must 
resolve,  at  the  same  time,  altogether  to  quit  the 
world.  Christ  himself  had  not  refused  to  converse 
with  publicans  and  sinners.  In  sacred  history  no 
rebellion  was  authorized  by  God,  even  against  idola- 
trous kings.  On  the  contrary,  the  prophets,  when 
rebuking  their  unrighteousness  most  bitterly,  con- 
tinued to  abide  by,  and  to  assist  them  with  prayer 
and  counsel :  thus  Elijah  was  ever  witli  Ahab,  unless 
when  it  had  become  necessary  that  he  should  hide 
himself  for  a  season  from  the  fury  of  Jezebel.  Here, 
again,  the  speaker  took  especial  pains  that  he  should 
not  be  misunderstood  as  comparing  Henry  with 
Ahab  or  with  Jezebel.  The  rebellion  against  Ama- 
ziah  was  not  undertaken  on  account  of  rehgion ; 

Vol.  II.— B  b 


290        CONFERENCE  AT  SUREXNE.   [cH.  XVHI. 

and,  indeed,  the  death  of  that  prince  was  compen- 
sated in  some  degree  by  his  interment  in  the  tomb 
of  his  fathers,  and  by  the  succession  of  his  son 
Ozias  in  his  stead.  The  troubles  in  the  reign  of  Re- 
hoboam  arose  from  his  tyranny,  not  from  his  idola- 
try. Anliochus  was  a  foreigner  and  an  invader  ;  not 
a  lawful  and  natural  sovereign.  Did  not  Christ 
himself,  together  with  his  blessed  Mother,  enrol  his 
name  in  the  census  of  the  pagan  Augustus  1  Did  he 
not  pay  tribute  to  Csesar,  both  for  himself  and  for 
St.  Peter!  Did  he  not  command  that  the  things 
which  are  Caesar's  should  be  rendered  to  Caesar,  as 
expressly  as  those  of  God  to  God !  Did  he  not 
avow  that  Pilate  could  not  have  power  over  him, 
unless  it  proceeded  from  above  1  The  calumny 
against  Athanasius  was  sufficiently  refuted  by  that 
great  father's  own  apology;  and  the  humility  with 
which  he  yielded  to  the  decree  of  Constantme,  sub- 
mitting himself  to  banishment,  when  he  might  have 
roused  the  whole  orthodox  population  in  his  behalf, 
was  an  ample  test  of  the  sincerity  of  his  principles. 
This  spirit  of  passive  obedience  was  farther  illus- 
trated by  numerous  similar  examples  during  the  rage 
of  the  Arian  controversy;  and  the  research  of  the 
learned  prelate  was  displayed  by  his  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  actions  of  Felix,  Anastasius, 
Synunachus,  Ormisdas,  Agapetus,  and  Silverius. 
The  council  of  Toledo  was  said  to  be  imperative 
on  kings  of  Spain,  but  by  no  means  so  on  those  of 
France  ;  the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Lateran  were 
received  so  far  as  they  regarded  doctrine,  but  not  as 
they  affected  the  temporal  power  of  princes ;  respect- 
ing which  they  admitted  of  considerable  explana- 
tion and  modification.  Then,  earnestly  deprecating 
any  reference  to  the  turbulent  meeting  of  the  states 
at  Blois,  in  the  transactions  of  which  most  unhappy 
assembly  he  himself  had  participated,  the  archbishop 
showed  that  the  great  numerical  superiority  which 
the  Catholics  possessed  in  France  rendered  the  case 


A.  D.  1693.]  CONFERENCES  AT  SURENNE,       291 

of  England  an  unfair  parallel.  Finally,  he  prayed 
all  his  brethren  to  exhort  the  king  to  embrace  a 
better  creed  ;  and  to  lend  their  powerful  influence 
to  remove  the  obstacles  which  Pisani  was  encoun- 
tering in  his  embassy  at  Rome. 

This  long  debate  had  consumed  the  entire  day  ; 
and  a  paroxysm  of  the  gout  having  attacked  the 
Archbishop  of  Lyons,  it  was  not  until  the 
following  afternoon  that  the  commission-  *''"'  "' 
ers  renewed  their  discussion,  round  the  couch  from 
which  the  invalid  was  unable  to  rise.  It  would  be 
tedious  to  pursue  the  subtilties  in  which  the  course 
of  argument  derived  from  Scripture  was  again  in- 
volved. Futile  as  were  most  of  the  reasonings  by 
which  the  jus  divinum  was  either  supported  or  at- 
tacked, they  formed  the  received  wisdom  of  the 
time  ;  nor  indeed  will  they  suffer  by  comparison  with 
much  that  was  written  and  spoken  among  ourselves 
on  the  same  idle  question  nearly  a  century  later. 
We  have  noticed  them,  as  characteristic  of  the  age 
to  which  they  belong,  not  as  possessing  any  intrin- 
sic value  ;  and  the  specimens  already  given  may  be 
more  than  sufficient.  The  only  really  important 
portion  of  Kspinac's  reply,  was  an  assurance  that  no 
interference  would  be  attempted  with  Pisani's  mis- 
sion, but  that  the  pope  would  be  left  without  solici- 
tation to  decide  according  to  his  own  judgment. 

The  Arclibishop  of  ijourges,  in  answer,  chiefly 
confined  himself  to  a  bold  declaration  of  his  esti- 
mate of  the  pontifical  authority.  Professing  that  he 
kissed  the  feet  of  the  holy  father  with  all  due  senti- 
ments of  humility,  he  could  not  but  regret  that  the 
see  of  Rome  had  lent  itself  so  entirely  to  the  pro- 
jects of  Spain.  The  mildness  exhibited  of  old  by 
Anastasius  towards  .lustin.  and  by  .lohn  towards  .Tus- 
tinian  when  he  sought  to  reclaim  lum  from  tlie  Ku- 
tychian  lieresy,  was  far  more  worthy  of  imitation 
than  the  severity  which  had  disjointed  England  and 
Hungary  from  the  Catholic  communion.     But  there 


292  bol'cher's  sermon  in  Paris,      [ch.  xviii. 

were  hopes  that  the  reigning  pope  would  show  him- 
self a  common  parent  to  all  his  children,  and  would 
manifest  to  France,  in  particular,  who  so  well  de- 
served his  affection,  a  favour  similar  to  that  which 
had  flowed  from  many  of  his  predecessors.  Then, 
having  instituted  a  comparison  between  Henr)',  now 
in  the  vigour  of  manhood,  and  Philip  of  Spain,  effete 
with  age,*  and  having  asked  upon  which  prince  the 
more  firm  reliance  might  be  placed,  he  vehemently 
recommended  the  dismissal  of  all  factious  verbal 
controversy,  and  an  immediate  entrance  upon  the 
plain  business  of  negotiation.  A  somewhat  tumul- 
tuous debate  ensued,  in  which  the  immimities  of  Ihe 
Gallican  Cliufch  wei-e  respectively  affirmed  or  denied 
by  other  speakers  ;  and  the  sitting  terminated  with- 
out adopting  any  effective  course  of  action.  In  a 
meeting  held  four  days  afterward,  the  commission- 
ers resolved  upon  an  adjournment  for  a  short  time, 
during  which  eafli  party  might  receive  fuller  instruc- 
tions from  its  superiors. 

This  interval  was  employed  by  the  ultra-leaguers 
in  attempts  to  awaken  popular  excitement ;  and  the 
legate  headed  a  procession,  in  which  he 
^''  ■  was  followed  not  only  by  a  large  train  of 
barefooted  ecclesiastics,  carrying  the  relics  of  nu- 
merous martyrs,  but  by  thirteen  counsellors  of  the 
parliament,  attired  in  their  scarlet  robes,  who  sup- 
ported on  their  shoulders  the  bier  of  St.  Louis.* 
The  Cardinal  Relieve  celebrated  mass  ;  and  Boucher 
who  was  chosen  to  preach,  indulged  in  more  than 
former  violence,  choosing  his  text  from  the  Ixxixth 
Psalm,  "  Take  me  out  of  the  mire."     He  punned,  in 

*  The  rnrilinal  tVOssat  has  describsd  Thilip's  decrrpilude  in  a  few 
Btronp  words  '■  Elaiit  luiiiiSme  en  sa  personnc  vieux.  cuss:'  p.t  nioii- 
bond,  inhnhilp  A  toiiiifo  r;ictiOMs  du  KiU'ire  el  A  loule  sorie  <!e  ir:i\  :iil,  soit 
de  corps  on  d'cspnt."  Lettres,  1  ^m  i.  p.  "h'  A  leiier  written  by 
P'Ossat  to  Pjsaii,  loniaiiilnc  remarks  iiprtn  the  importey  ol'C'ieinent's 
delay  in  the  iicaotiation  tlien  pending:,  occasioned  the  firRt  iniroUuction 
of  the  funire  cardinal  and  able  diplomatist  toFTenry  IV.  Id.  226. 

t  Cayel.  Cliroa.  Novenn.  torn.  ii.  liv.y.  p.  206.  ' 


A.  D.  1593.]   DECLARATION  OF  HENRY.         293 

a  most  unseemly  guise,  on  the  original  expression, 
rendered  into  French,  "  Delivre-moij,  Seigneur,  de  la 
Bourhe,''^  as  if  David  had  prophetically  addressed 
himself  against  the  heretical  family  of  Bourbon.* 
This  appeal  to  the  passions  of  tlie  mob  accelerated 
Henry's  decision;  and  he  at  length  officially 
notified  that  the  time  was  arrived  at  which  *^  '"' 
he  would  fulfil  his  promise  of  submitting  himself  to 
"  instruction"  concerning  the  disputes  which  had 
occasioned  schism  in  the  church  ;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose he  invited  a  certain  number  of  Catholic  pre- 
lates and  doctors  to  attend  him  at  Mantes  on  the 
15th  of  the  following  July.f 

Copies  of  this  unexpected  declaration  were  busily 
circulated  through  Paris,  and  not  a  moment  was  lost 
by  the  Spaniards  in  endeavouring  to  counteract  the 
powerful  effects  which  it  was  to  be  feared  they  might 
produce.  The  Duke  of  Feria  at  once  proposed  to  a 
committee  of  the  states  the  election  of  the 
infanta  as  queen,  a  design  which  had  been 
hitherto  only  whispered;  and  this  open  avowal  of  an 
intended  breach  of  the  Salic  law  occasioned  a  burst 
of  passion  from  the  Bishop  of  Senlis,  which  discon- 
certed the  more  politic  reserve  of  Mayenne.  Roze 
declared  his  conviction  that  the  royalist  had  judged 
correctly  from  the  beginning,  in  affirming  that  Spain 
was  prompted  to  embark  in  this  war,  not  by  reli- 
gious zeal,  but  by  ambition;  adding,  that  if  the  French, 
who,  following  the  example  of  the  Jews,  had  excluded 
women  from  the  throne  for  1200  years,  once  allowed 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  tnm.  i.  p  339.  Le  Grain.  Decade  de  Henri  it 
Gra'id,hv.  jii.  p.  237.  Arnaud,  in  his  P/adioytT  azainst  the  Jesuits  in 
1594,  ascribes  this  blasphemy  lo  Commelet,  but  the  evidence  seems  to 
preponderate  against  Voucher.  It  may  be  remarked,  in  passinp,  that  the 
celebrated  (iaths  of  Bourban  do  not  derive  their  name,  as  miijht  be  sup- 
posed, from  the  miidicinal  quililies  of  these  Boitrbcs.  Menage,  in  his 
Orig.  Franc,  stitfli-iuntly  proves  that  they  were  called  AqucB  Bormonis 
In  the  lime  of  Theodosius. 

t  This  Circular  is  printed  in  the  Mem.  de  la  Li?ve,  torn.  v.  p.  380, 
and  in  a  note  on  the  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  343. 

Bb2 


294  INTRIGUES  OF  SPAIN.  [CH.  XVIII. 

their  crown  to  encircle  female  brows,  the  kiiisrciom 
itself  would  soon  be  transferred  to  foreign  domina- 
tion. The  Spanish  duke,  as  may  be  supposed,  man- 
ifested great  surprise  and  chagrin  at  this  unseason- 
able interruption  ;  and  Mayenne  excused  it,  by  con- 
fessing that  the  Bishop  of  Senlis  was  subject  to  occa- 
sional paroxysms  of  mevital  aberration,  during  which 
he  knew  not  what  he.  uttered,  and  committed  many 
blunders,  occasioning  shame  and  repentance  in  mo- 
ments of  returning  sanity.* 

The  coldness,  however,  with  which  Feria's  pro- 
position had  been  i-eceived,  and  the  little  sensation 
created  by  a  subsequent  threat  of  the  le- 
June22.  g-.^^g'g  departure  induced  the  Spaniards  to 
attempt  conciliation  ;  and  they  first  expressed  their 
master's  willingness  that  the  infanta  might  choose  a 
husband  among  the  French  princes,  those  of  Lor- 
raine included.  The  three  candidates  thus  admitted 
for  her  hand  was  the  Duke  of  Guise,  th«  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon,  provided  he  could  obtain  a  dispensation, 
and  Mayenne's  half-brother,  the  Duke  of  Nemours. 
But  national  feeling  was.  now  strongly  aroused,  and 
the  parliament  of  Paris  at  length  broke  silence  by  a 
decisive  arret.]  It  instructed  the  president,  Le 
Martin,  to  remonstrate  with  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
against  any  alienation  of  the  crown  to  a  foreign 
prince  or  princess  ;  to  urge  upon  him  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  state,  and  an 
inmiediate  election  of  a  king  who  should  be  a  ("ath- 
olic  and  a  Frenchman  ;  declaring  that  any  treaty 
which  might  be  made  to  any  other  effect  would  be 
utterly  null,  as  contradictory  to  the  Salic  law.  Yet 
furtiier  to  diminish  the  hopes  of  Spain,  intelligence 
was  receive^  at  the  same  time  that  Henry  had  made 
an  important  conquest.     The  Leaguers  had  unad- 


*  De  Tlion,  cvi.  10.  Jotirnal  de  Henri  IV.  torn,  i  p.  348. 
f  Ii  is  printed  in  ilie  .l/cwi.  el  Corresp.  de  Uu  Plessis-Mornay,  torn.  v. 
p.  475. 


A.  D.  1593.]       GUISE  PROPOSED  ASKING.  295 

visedly  refused  to  agree  to  a  truce  during  the  nego- 
tiation at  Surenne  ;  and  althoug^h  the  con- 
ference in  that  village  had  been  broken  up  ^^^^  ^^' 
for  some  weeks  past,  meetings  for  a  similar  purpose 
were  continually  renewed  in  other  places,  ytill, 
however,  unless  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
spot  at  which  the  commissioners  chanced  to  assem- 
ble, there  was  no  suspension  of  hostilities.  The 
king  perceived  that  his  reputation  demanded  some 
feat  of  arms  ;  and  more  with  the  hope  of  influencing 
the  pending  discussion,  than  with  any  intention  of 
seriously  prosecuting  the  war,  he  undertook  the  in- 
vestment of  Dreux,  one  of  the  chief  entrepots  of  the 
capital.  The  town  itself  surrendered  in  fifteen  days  ; 
and  the  activity  of  Sully  and  the  skill  of  some  Eng- 
lish miners  not  long  afterward  won  the  citadel  also.* 
On  thearrival  of  this  news,  the  Duke  of  Feria,  as  his 
last  chance,  announced  to  the  states  that  he  was  in- 
structed to  propose  the  Duke  of  Guise  specifically  as 
husband  to  the  infanta.  Mayenne,  deceived  by  a  too 
confident  belief  that  this  was  but  a  prompt  expedient 
to  meet  the  immediate  exigency,  and  that  the  am- 
bassador was  unprepared  with  any  document  by 
which  he  could  support  his  bold  proposition,  returned 
thanks  for  the  honour  thus  designed  to  his  family, 
and  accepted  the  alliance  for  his  nephew,  whenever 
Feria  should  be  fully  authorized  to  propose  it.  To 
his  unspeakable  mortification  and  astonishment,  the 
envoy  produced  the  sign-manual  of  King  Philip,  rati- 
fying the  offer.  The  moment  was  most  trying,  and 
required  no  small  effort  of  self-possession;  but  May- 
enne, a  veteran  in  dissimulation,  wore  a  smile  of 
seeming  joy,  and  undertook  to  communicate  to  the 
States-General  the  proposition  so  gratifying  to  him- 

*  The  transficiions  at  Dreux  are  related  by  Sully,  torn.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  175. 
Henry's  autograph  letter  to  Du  I'lessis,  Hunouncing  the  capture  and 
Buminoning  hiin  to  his  camp,  is  a  very  favourable  specimen  of  his  stylo. 
Mem.  et  Corr.  torn.  v.  p.  466. 


296  LETTERS  OF  [CH.  XVIII. 

self.  It  is  said,  that  on  the  first  announcement  of 
this  inteUigence,  three  only  of  the  many  courtiers 
who  had  hitherto  thronged  the  audience  of  the  lieu- 
tenant, continued  their  demonstrations  of  service. 
The  remainder  hastened  to  the  footstool  of  Guise, 
in  whose  hands  they  already  pictured  the  sceptre.* 
In  this  extremity,  Mayenne  dexterously  awakened 
the  fears  of  the  states  so  far  as  to  induce  them  to 
postpone  the  election  which  he  dreaded.  He  dwelt 
upon  the  necessity  of  having  ample  funds  and  a  nu- 
merous army  to  support  their  new  king;  he  showed 
the  policy  of  waiting  till  the  promised  troops  and 
treasure  could  be  despatched  from  Spain  ;  and  above 
all,  he  impressed  upon  them  that  it  would  be  most 
inopportune  to  render  Henry  desperate,  at  the  very 
moment  in  which  he  had  gained  strength  by  the  re- 
cent conquest  of  Dreux  ;  and  would  soon,  probably, 
draw  a  large  reinforcement  from  the  ranks  of  the 
Catholics  themselves,  by  his  pretended  conversion, 
which  was  now  evidently  at  hand.f 

The  feelings  entertained  at  this  season  by  the 
Huguenots,  as  their  eyes  unwillingly  opened  to 
Henry's  approaching  desertion,  are  depicted  in  a 
lively  manner  by  many  passages  in  the  correspond- 
ence of  Du  Plessis.  Before  the  opening  of  the 
conference  at  Surenne,  that  great  and  honest  states- 
man expressed  himself  as  entertaining  little  hope  of 
a  successful  result,  while  the  Catholics  avowed  that 
they  would  not  treat  "  with,  for,  or  of  a  heretic." 
♦'  Since  it  is  the  king  they  mean,  to  what  purpose 

*  De  Thou,  cvii   3. 

t  The  proposition  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  as  husband  to  the  infanta,  is 
assigned  by  the  Journal  de  Mewri  IV.  to  the  14th  of  .luly.  Vet  Henry 
writes  as  follows  to  Uu  Plessis,  de  sa  propre  main,  on  the  25lh  of  June. 
The  letter  is  dated  from  Dreux,  the  citadel  of  which  had  not  at  that 
time  surrendered  '■  I.es  Espagiiols  ont  faict  dcs  otTres  si  grandes  que 
les  eniiemis  y  ont  preste  I'oreiile.  lis  tie  demandent  seulciiient,  sinnii 
que  Ton  elise  le  Due  de  Oui.sc,  et  qu'il  espouse  la  fille  d'Es))aigne,  de 
qiioi  le  Due  de  Mayenne  seuible  avoir  quelque  jalousie.''  Tom.  v.  p.  465. 
The  intentions  of  (he  Spaniards  were  therefore  reported  three  weeks 
before  they  made  the  offlcjal  proposal,  and  Mayenne's  blind  confidence 
is  not  a  Uttl«  surprising. 


A.  T>.   1593.]  DU    PLESSIS.  297 

can  be  their  meeting  V*  At  that  moment,  although 
sorrowing  over  his  master's  licentiousness,  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  contemplated  his  apostacy.  "  Our 
king,"  he  writes  to  a  confidential  friend,  "  is  still  the 
same  in  matters  of  religion — the  same,  also,  on  the 
other  hand, as  regards  his  pleasures;  it  is  consolatory 
to  me  to  find  that  he  is  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  but  it  is  most  afflicting  when  I  see  that 
he  dishonours  its  profession."!  But  the  deep  tone 
of  feeling  which  pervades  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
king  himself,  on  the  day  before  the  issue  of  the  cir- 
cular which  summoned  the  prelates  to  his  "instruc- 
tion," speaks  the  full  awakening  of  Du  Plessis' 
fears.  "  I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  troubles  to  which 
your  majesty  finds  yourself  exposed,  for  I  have 
always  foreseen  them.  The  first  thing  requisite  (let 
me  entreat  your  majesty  to  pardon  my  freedom),  is 
to  pour  out  the  soul  in  contrition  before  God  ;  against 
whose  wrath  neither  the  wisdom  nor  the  strength  of 
man  can  aflford  succour.  The  next  thing,  after  having 
done  our  utmost,  is  to  trust  ourselves  with  confi- 
dence to  his  hands,  well  assured  that  no  human 
conspiracy  can  avail  against  his  blessing.  Fortified 
by  such  resolves,  you  need  not  doubt,  sire,  that 
means  of  success  will  ever  fail ;  since  they  are  in- 
exhaustible with  God,  who  will  be  on  your  side,  and 
since  you  will  find  a  number  of  faithful  servants 
prepared  to  abide  by  you  through  every  storm  and 
at  every  disadvantage.  Above  all,  sire,  you  will 
have  but  men  to  combat :  and  you  will  have  made 
your  peace  with  God,  svho  also  can  give  you  peace 
with  men.  I\Iay  it  please  your  majesty  to  receive 
this  letter  as  proceeding  from  the  very  bottom  of 
my  heart,  from  which  I  implore  the  Creator  to  com- 
fort and  counsel  you  with  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  his  glory 
and  to  j'^our  own  salvation. '"{ 

*  Tom.  V.  p.  395.  407. 

t  Pud.  p.  4i>0.  So  also  M  DumRurier,  when  writing  to  Dii  Plessis, 
employs  an  allusion  not  to  be  nnistaken.  Cependant  diiiri  Hercules  totus 
in.servit  Omphnli*  Irs  mimstres re/oisonnent  devant  lui.  p.  411. 

;  Tom.  V.  p.  416. 


298  LETTERS  AND  PROJECTS       [CH.  XVIII. 

A  few  days  later,  after  Henry's  intentions  were 
avowed,  Du  Plessis  writes  in  terms  of  very  passion- 
ate grief  to  numerous  correspondents.  "  It  is  on 
our  tears,"  he  exclaims  to  one  friend,  "  that  I  now 
place  my  reliance.  Even  if  he  can  forget  God, 
God,  I  trust,  will  not  forget  him."*  "You  will  be 
overcome  by  the  intelligence  which  now  reaches 
you,"  are  his  words  to  De  Calignon,  the  Chancellor  of 
Navarre,  "  but  we  must  lift  up  our  hearts  to  God,  and 
entreat  him  to  give  back  his  grace  with  manifest  in- 
crease to  the  king."t  To  Henry  himself  he  writes 
with  not  less  openness  than  before,  "  1  am  well  as- 
sured, whatever  may  be  said,  that  your  majesty  can 
never  forget  the  blessings  which  the  Almighty  has 
bestowed  upon  you  ;  and  I  feel  yet  stronger  assu- 
rance that  that  God,  who  held  you  in  mind  even  be- 
fore your  birth,  will  not  now  cast  j'ou  out  of  His  re- 
membrance. If  you  summon  this  conference  with  a 
view  to  the  discovery  of  truth,  you  will  permit  the 
truth  to  be  defended ;  and  you  will  invite  persons 
who  are  competent  to  its  defence.  If  you  act  other- 
wise, sire,  all  men  will  say  that  you  are  engaging  in 
no  more  than  a  mere  formality,  having  previously 
determined  to  surrender.  Such  an  imputation,  how- 
ever, is  incredible,  when  advanced  against  the  greatest 
prince  of  our  times,  and  especially  against  one  who 
has  acknowledged  the  hand  of  God  raised  so  often  in 
his  behalf.  Bear  in  mind,  sire,  that  all  those  who 
heretofore  have  been  your  comrades  in  arms,  on  the 
field  of  battle,  are  now  arrayed  as  an  army  before 
God  in  prayer,  that  He  may  be  pleased  to  comfort 
you  and  to  verify  those  words  of  the  Apostle,  that 
'  His  gifts  and  calling  are  without  repentance. ''%  For 
myself,  I  confidently  deny  the  charges  now  made 
against  you;  and  I  humbly  beseech  the  Almighty 
that  he  will  grant  you  a  measure  of  his  Spirit  ac- 
cording to  the  temptation  by  which  you  are  assailed; 

*  Tom.  V.  p.  424. 

t  tbid.  p.  425,  and  sec  also  p.  429 

J  Romam  xi-  29. 


A.  D.  1593.]  OF    DU    PLESSI3.  299 

so  that  5'ou  may  overcome  to  his  glory,  to  your  own 
salvation,  and  to  the  edification  of  your  people."* 

Du  Plessis'  first  impulse  strongly  prompted  him 
to  convert  the  proposed  assembly  at  Mantes  into  an 
arena  for  controversy  between  the  two  churches. 
For  that  purpose,  he  suggested  to  the  Duke  de  Bouil- 
lon, now  by  far  the  most  powerful  leader  among  the 
Huguenots,  that  fitting  personages  should  be  sum- 
moned from  all  the  provinces,  by  whom  the  light 
should  be  made  to  shine  forth  amid  darkness.  He 
urged  also,  that  ambassadors  should  be  procured 
from  the  chief  Reformed  states  ;  from  England,  the 
Netherlands,  the  German  princes,  the  Protestant 
cantons  of  Swisserland,  and  the  Genevans.  "  It 
would  be  well,"  he  added,  "  that  each  ambassador 
should  be  accompanied  by  some  able  divines,  pro- 
vided they  are  not  Lutherans,  for  they  would  only 
sow  tares."!  Junius  appeared  to  him  well  calcu- 
lated to  act  as  deputy  on  this  occasion  from  the 
United  Provinces ;  and  Whitaker  or  Hainolds  from 
England.  No  two  theologians  of  their  time  had 
acquired  a  more  just  or  a  more  extensive  reputation 
than  the  last  mentioned  great  scholars  ;  and  the 
former  had  been  already  pronounced  by  Bellarmine, 
an  antagonist  whose  praise  was  well  worth  receiv- 
ing, to  be  the  most  learned  of  heretics.  J  Du  Plessis 
farther  requested  M.  de  Lonienie,  Henry's  private 
secretary,  to  ascertain  the  king's  precise  object ;  for 
if  he  wished  the  truth  to  be  defended,  champions 
sufficiently  able  could  be  produced  to  cover  the  face 

*  Toin.  V.  p.  426. 
t  Ibid.  p.  129. 

♦  Juniua,  as  (he  name  Du  .Ion  has  been  Latinised,  was  a  native  of 
France,  and  was  aiipoiiiUd  Divinity  Professor  al  I.i-ydin  in  15'Ji.  Rai- 
nolds  had  been  selected  by  Sir  Franeis  Walsinchiini  lo  fill  the  Divinity 
Professorship  which  he  founded  at  Oxford  in  I5S(>;  and  during  iheyear 
now  under  consideration,  1593,  he  was  preferred  to  llie  Deanery  of  Lin- 
coln ;  a  dignity  which  he  afterward  exchanged  for  the  Mastership  of 
Corpus  Christ!  Colleiie.  Whiiaker  was  appointed  Kegius  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Cambridze  in  1579,  and  afterward  became  .Master  of  BL 
John's  Colloge.  De  Thou  passes  d  high  encomium  upon  bun  wben  i» 
lating  bis  deaili  in  1595     cxiii.  Ift 


300  PROJECTS    OF    DU    PLESSIS.         [CH.  XVllI. 

of  their  enemies  with  shame.  ^'  Nothing,  he  con- 
cludes, "  shall  tempt  me  to  be  present  at  an  inequi- 
table contest ;  one  in  which  the  utmost  resistance 
must  be  unavailing,  and  in  which  the  only  course 
remaining  to  us  will  be  to  yield  with  dishonour ;  but 
if  the  combat  for  truth  is  to  be  maintained  in  earnest, 
then  I  will  come  and  bring  with  me  a  front  of  brass : 
so  that,  with  God's  aid,  all  men  may  perceive  that 
those  who  fear  him  have  not  any  thing  else  which 
they  need  fear."* 

Some  change  of  resolution  is  expressed  in  circular 
letters  which  Du  Plessis  wrote  a  fortnight  later,  to 
various  Huguenot  ministers  ;t  and  especially  in  a 
memorial  which  he  presented  at  the  same  time  to 
the  king.  In  that  paper,  he  states  his  belief  that 
Henry  by  no  means  requires  the  presence  of  the 
Reformed  clergy  at  Mantes,  in  order  that  they  may 
dispute  with  the  Rumanist  bishops  ;  and  he  assigns 
reasons  for  this  opmion  with  no  little  ingenuousness. 
First,  a  fear  may  be  entertained  of  the  prevalence  of 
truth ;  secondly,  the  pope's  displeasure  may  be  ex- 
cited, and  excommunication  would  be  the  certain 
result;  thirdly,  it  might  be  dangerous  for  the  minis- 
ters to  enter  into  controversy,  when  the  king  has 
already  made  up  his  mind  to  abandon  their  cause. 
Still  he  approves  of  their  attendance.  Their  pres- 
ence, he  says,  must  awaken  emotions  in  the  king's 
mind,  which  even  if  not  sufficient  to  prevent  his 
change,  may  incline  him  to  grant  more  liberal  guar- 
antees for  the  safety  of  the  church  ;  moreover,  un- 
less there  are  ministers  of  fit  capacity  about  the  king, 
the  bishops  will  no  doubt  profit  by  the  weakness  of 
those  in  attendance  ;  and  under  the  pretext  of  satis- 
fying the  royal  conscience,  w  ill  draw  them  into  a 
controversy  for  the  support  of  which  the  Reformed 
may  prove  unequal.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Ro- 
manists will  not  dare  to  speak,  if  they  find  arrayed 

«  Tom,  V.  p.  430.  t  Ibid.  p.  44a 


A.  1).  1593.]  INSTRUCTION  OF  HKNRY  IV.       301 

against  them  persons  who  they  well  know  can  an- 
swer. He  then  points  out  certain  stipulations  for 
which  he  is  anxious  ;  that  the  Huguenot  service 
may  be  celebrated,  if  not  in  the  interior  of  towns, 
at  least  in  their  fauxbourgs  ;  that  ministers  may  be 
retained  in  the  court  and  in  the  royal  armies;  since 
the  present  refusal  of  the  rites  of  sepulture  to  those 
who  die  in  the  camp  and  in  the  very  presence  of  the 
king,  is  a  most  insupportable  grievance  ;  and  lastly, 
that  a  fixed  stipend  may  be  assigned  in  each  prov- 
ince for  the  support  of  ministers,  and  tliat  perma- 
nent sums  be  set  apart  for  its  provision.* 

As  t!;e  day  fixed  for  the  king's  "instruction"  ap- 
proached Du  Plessis  perceived  ample  reasons  to 
induce  him  yet  more  fully  to  abandon  hi:s  first  de- 
sign. He  would  have  presented  himself  at  any 
assemhlij  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  discuss  the 
temporal  interests  of  the  church;  but  he  was  too 
deeply  nu)ved  to  consent  to  the  ridicule  of  lending 
himself  as  a  mere  spectator  of  a  conference^  in  which 
it  was  preconcerted  that  the  king  should  simulate 
conversion,  that  the  Romanists  should  be  trium- 
phant, and  that  the  Huguenots  should  be  condemned 
without  a  trial. t  He  remained  accordingly  at  t;au- 
mur,  when  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges,  the  Bishops 
of  Nantes,  of  Chartres,  of  Mons,  and  of  Kvreux,  the 
Dean  of  Notre  Dame,  and  the  Cures  of  St.  Kustache, 
St.  Sulpice,  and  St.  Mery  repaired  to  Nantes.  Henry 
in  accepting  those  divines  as  his  teachers,  had  pro- 
tested against  the  admission  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bour- 
bon as  their  assessor;  remarking  with  sportiveness, 
perhaps  with  truth,  that,  albeit  he  himself  had 
found  little  time  for  the  pursuit  of  theological 
studies,  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  could  beat  his 
cousin  in  disputation,  notwithstanding  he  was  a 
cardinal. t 

*  Tom.  V.  p.  450.  f  Tbid.  p.  486.  J  De  Thou,  cvii.  7. 

Vol.  II.— Co 


302  INSTRUCTION  OF  HENRY  IV.     [cH.  XVIII. 

On  the  morning  appointed  for  the  conference, 
before  admitting  the  divines,  he  fomid  time 

"  ^  'to  write  a  few  Unes  to  his  mistress,  Ga- 
brielle  D'Estrees,  informing  her  that  on  the  following 
Sunday  he  should  make  "  the  perilous  leap  ;"*  and 
that  at  the  moment  in  which  he  was  addressing  her, 
he  had  a  hundred  importunate  applicants  at  his  heels, 
who  made  him  hate  St.  Denis  quite  as  much  as  she 
hated  Mantes.  From  six  o'clock  till  eleven  in  the 
forenoon,!  the  king  listened  most  patiently  to  ex- 
positions on  the  points  concerning  which  he  felt  the 
greatest  doubt ; — The  invocation  of  saints,  auri- 
cular confession,  and  the  pope's  supremacy.  On 
the  knotty  point  of  transubstantiation,  he  expressed 
himself  in  terms  which,  if  they  are  correctly  re- 
ported, prove  either  that  he  was  never  sincere  in  the 
Reformed  profession,  or  that  he  was  entirely  igno- 
rant of  one  of  the  main  differences  between  the  two 
churches. I  The  Archbishop  of  Bourges  took  the 
lead ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  the  king 
courteously  thanked  the  divines  for  having  freed 
him  from  much  ignorance ;  and  expressed  a  hope 
that,  by  farther  meditation  and  by  the  grace  of  God, 
he  might  adopt  a  course  salutary  both  to  himself 
and  to  his  subjects.^  As  a  first  earnest  of  his  con- 
version, he  issued  orders  to  the  steward  of  his  house- 
holQ  carefully  to  observe  all  the  fasts  of  the  Ro- 
mish church,  and  to  abstain  from  serving  flesh  at 
his  table  on  the  days  in  which  its  use  was  pro- 
hibited. 1| 

*  Ce  sera  Vimanche  que  je  fcrai  le  saut  perilhiix  :  Lettres  dc  Henri 
IV.  Journal  dc  Henri  HI.  torn  iv.  p.  434,  words  which  are  rendered  by 
Laval,  whimsically  but  nol  very  honesiiy,  "the  tumbling  trick."'  Hist, 
of  the  Ref.  m  France,  vol.  iv.  p.  132. 

t  Cayet.  Chroiu  Novenn.  lorn.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  221 ;  and  the  Journal  de 
Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  388,  extend  the  houis  of  instruction  to  one  in  the 
afternoon.  In  mercy  to  Henry,  we  have  curtailed  them  on  the  authority 
of  Uc  Thou,  cvii.  7. 

t  "  Mais  quand  se  vint  a  parler  de  la  reality  de  Sacrament  de  I'Autel, 
il  lour  dit,  '  je  n'en  suis  point  en  doule,  car  je  I'ay  toujours  ainsi  creu.'" 
Cayrt,  ibid.  p.  222. 

^  Ue  Thou,  cvii.  7. 

11  Journal  de  Iletui  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  389 


A.  ».   1593.]       CONFESSION    OF    FAITH.  303 

The  joy  of  the  metropolis  was  unbounded  wlien 
Henry  formally  announced  the  day  on  which  he 
would  seek  reconciliation  with  the  church  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Denis.  The  legate,  indeed,  circu- 
lated a  vehement  letter,  in  which  he  denounced 
canonical  censures  against  any  ecclesiastic  who 
should  presume  to  admit  a  relapsed  and  impenitent 
heretic  to  communion  ;*  and  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
threatened  rigorous  punishment  to  any  inhabitant 
of  Paris  who  should  cross  the  barriers  without  per- 
mission. Nevertheless,  on  the  evening  of  the  24th 
of  July,  the  town  of  St.  Denis  was  thronged  with 
expectant  visiters ;  and  a  great  majority  of  the 
crowd  which  gazed  upon  or  assisted  in  the  next 
day's  solemnity,  consisted  of  strangers  from  the 
capital. 

Some  hesitation  arose,  even  at  the  last  moment, 
relative  to  the  confession  of  faith  which  the  king 
was  to  subscribe.  The  formal  act  was  at  first  bur- 
dened with  minute  particulars  from  which  the 
neophyte  revolted  ;  and  Sully,  Du  Perron,  and  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  were  employed  in  accommo- 
dating it  to  his  taste. t  This  original  document  has 
not  reached  us ;  but  it  is  plain  from  the  one  which 
Henry  really  accepted,  that  he  was  not  very  fastid- 
ious ;  and  we  may  reasonably  believe  that  the 
Romish  divines,  in  the  outset,  proposed  terms  by 
which  their  triumph  was  to  be  ostentatiously  bla- 
zoned. In  the  existing  confession,  Henry  acknow- 
ledges his  belief  in  tradition  ;  in  Scripture  as  inter- 
preted by  the  holy  mother  church ;  in  seven  sacra- 
ments instituted  by  our  Lord  ;  in  received  ceremo- 
nies; in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass;  in  the  doctrine 
taught  by  councils  respecting  original  sin  and  justi- 
fication ;  in  transubstantiation  ;  in  the  validity  of 
communicating  in  one  kind  ;  in  purgatory ;  in  the 
invocation    of  saints,   and  the   honour  and  venera- 

*  Printed  in  the  Leltres  iTOssat,  torn.  i.  p.  iMO. 
t  Sully,  torn.  ii.  liv.  v.  ad  Jin. 


304  ABJURATION  OF  HENRY  IT.         [cH.  XVIII. 

tion  due  to  images ;  in  the  divine  origin  and  the 
power  of  indulgences  ;  and  in  the  supremacy  of  the 
Romish  church  and  of  the  holy  father,  the  succes- 
sor of  St.  Peter,  chief  of  the  apostles,  and  vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ.*  If  he  were  indeed  to  become  a 
Romanist,  less  than  this  recognition  could  scarcely 
be  demanded ;  but  it  may  be  a  just  matter  of  sur- 
prise how  more  could  ever  be  expected. 

When  the  memorable  day  arrived,  the  king, clothed 
July  25  ^'^  white  raiment,  accompanied  by  a  numer- 
ous train  of  princes  and  nobles,  and  escorted 
by  his  Swiss  and  Scottish  guard,  presented  himself, 
about  eight  o'clock,  at  the  chief  portal  of  the  cathe- 
dral of  St.  Denis;  where  the  Archbishop  of  Bour- 
ges,*  supported  by  the  other  prelates  and  ecclesias- 
tics who  had  assisted  in  the  instruction,  and  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  expected  his  arrival.  The  body 
of  the  church  was  hung  with  white  drapery,  embroi- 
dered with  the  armorial  bearings  of  France  and  of 
Navarre.  The  archbishop,  seated  and  holding  a 
copy  of  the  Gospels  in  his  hand,  asked  the  stranger 
as  he  approached  who  he  was  and  what  he  required  1 
"  I  am  the  king,"  replied  Henry,  "  and  I  wish  for  re- 
ception into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic,  apostolic, 
and  Roman  church."  He  was  again  asked,  if  he  so 
wished  in  all  sincerity  and  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart!  and  having  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he 
kneeled  down  and  pronounced  the  following  decla- 
ration :  "  1  protest  and  vow  before  Almighty  God  to 
live  and  die  in  the  Catholic  and  Roman  religion,  to 
protect  and  defend  it  against  every  one,  at  the  hazard 

*  Journal  ile  Henri  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  391.     Note. 

t  Cayet  lias  given  the  nasoii  why  the  Archbishop  of  Bourjes.  who 
was  grand  almoner  of  France,  presided  on  this  occasion.  "  I,e  Grand 
Aumosnier  de  l-'rance  est  peculier  Kvesiiue  de  laCour  et  niaisondu  Hoy; 
roinine  ij  se  pent  voir  en  I'ancienne  in.>i|itu!ii)n  duilit  estat  et  office  de 
Grand  Anniosnier  dt-  France  ;  et  4  cette  occasion  est  veritihleinent  Clia- 
noiiie  ne  de  TKalise  de  I'aris,  el  est  Icnu  en  Conr  faire  I'ofTice  dc  I'aris, 
.le  liens  que  c'esi  alls!  pouriiuoy  sa  IMajeste  vonlut  faire  sa  reunion  I'E- 
glise  devaiit  son  Grand  Aumosnier  conuiie  eslant  proprius  suns  sacer 
ioB."    Cliron.  yov.  toin.  ii.  p.  2'23.  Noie. 


A.  D.  1593.]  ABJURATION  OF  HENRY  IV.       305 

of  my  blood  and  of  my  life  ;  renouncing  all  heresies 
opposed  to  it."  Tiien,  having  tendered  to  the  arch- 
bishop the  written  confession  of  belief  which  we 
have  already  noticed,  attested  by  his  sign-manual, 
he  was  raised  from  his  knees  and  led  to  the  high 
altar,  as  soon  as  the  thronging  of  the  eager  specta- 
tors permitted.  There,  amid  shouts  of  impatient 
congratulation,  he  again  fell  on  his  knees,  repeated 
the  same  oath,  received  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and 
kissed  the  altar.  In  a  pavilion  constructed  behind 
the  altar,  he  confessed,  and  received  absolution  from 
the  archbishop,  while  a  solemn  Te  Deum  was 
chanted  in  the  choir.  The  Bishop  of  Nantes  per- 
formed mass,  which  was  interrupted  by  repeated 
shouts  of  Vive  le  Roy,  while  Henry  sat  enthroned 
under  a  canopy  glittering  with  fleurs-de-lis  of  gold. 
At  the  close  of  the  service,  money  was  scattered 
among  the  people  ;  and  the  king,  returning  to  his 
quarters,  dined  in  pub'ic,  not  a  little  to  his  incon- 
venience, from  the  rude  pressure  of  curiosity.*  Af- 
ter the  banquet,  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  which  a 
Romish  grace  was  chanted,  he  heard  a  sermon  from 
the  archbishop,  and  attended  vespers ;  and  then 
mounted  on  horseback,  to  ofl'er  a  thanksgiving  in 
the  church  of  Montmartre.  The  festivities  of  the 
day  concluded  with  a  splendid  exhibition  of  fire- 
works. 

During  the  progress  of  the  ceremonial  at  St.  Denis, 
the  gates  of  Paris  were  closed  ;  and  the  pulpits 
resounded  with  denunciations  addressed  by  the 
preachers  of  the  league  against  the  heretics  and 
those  false  bishops  who,  it  was  said,  had  exalted 
their  horn  to  overthrow  the  church  :  who  had  made 

*  "  Sprelo  omni  periculoquod  a  sicarii.s  illi  in  horas  imniinebat.runctos 
admitti  vnluit,  tanio  concur.su  ruentes,  ut  parum  abfuerit  ipiin  co-iiaculo 
amplissimo  in  quo  cibuni  suinebat  coinpleto,  iiiensam  ad  fiuain  »edt-hairt 
dejecerint."  I)e  Thou,  cvii.  9.  Seenlsofor  an  account  of  the  Holemniliea 
on  the  day  of  Henry's  conversion.  Journal  dt  Henry  IV.  torn.  i.  p.  389, 
and  especially  the  very  ampls  narrative  given  by  Cayet,  Chron.  Navenn. 
lorn.  ii.  liv.  V.  p.  222,  &c. 

Cc3 


306  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  [cH.  XVIIL 

a  rent  in  the  coat  without  a  seam,  and  who  were 
seeking  to  divide  the  people  by  leading  them  to  idol- 
atry at  Bethel.  Their  conferences  were  declared 
to  be  by  a  truer  name  conspiracies ;  their  prayers 
execrations",  their  blessings  curses  ;  their  absolution 
but  a  repetition  of  censure  ;  their  sacrifices  the 
bread  of  tears,  polluting  all  who  should  taste  it.  On 
this,  as  on  all  similar  occasions,  Boucher  was  pre- 
eminent in  virulence  ;  and  the  nine  lengthy  sermons 
on  the  Conversion  Simul^c,  which  he  preached  at  St. 
Mery's,  were  afterward  collected  and  committed 
to  the  press,  as  enduring  testinjonies  of  his  hatred 
against  the  king. 

The  resolution  thus  finally  adopted  by  Henry,  in 
the  most  important  crisis  of  his  life,  occasions  sor- 
row rather  than  surprise.  To  hesitate  in  pronoun- 
cing his  condemnation  would  be,  in  some  degree,  to 
become  partakers  of  his  sin  ;  yet  so  dazzling  are  the 
brighter  portions  of  his  character — or,  to  speak  with 
greater  justice,  so  deservedly  in  many  points  does 
he  command  both  our  attachment  and  our  admira- 
tion— that,  perhaps,  no  one  ever  contemplated  this 
his  fall,  without  an  ardent  and  a  very  pardonable 
anxiety  to  diminish  its  heaviness.  Nor  is  it  difticult 
to  find  palliations.  A  firmer  sense  of  the  para- 
mount obligations  of  religious  and  moral  duty,  than 
that  which  at  any  season  appears  to  have  influ- 
enced his  conduct,  might,  through  God's  grace,  have 
enabled  him  to  subdue  the  strong  worldly  tempta- 
tions by  which  he  was  encompassed.  But  how  ad- 
verse to  the  attainment  of  such  a  spiritual  armour 
had  been  the  circumstances  of  his  life,  and  of  the 
evil  times  upon  which  he  was  cast !  It  has  been 
pleaded  in  his  behalf,  that  the  entanglements  of 
state  policy  in  great  measure  deprived  him  of  free 
agency  ;*  and  no  one  can  read  the  apology  which  he 

*  D'Auhigno,  in  a  very  curious  chapter  on  Henry's  conversion.  Hist. 
T'nii'.  loin.  iii.  jiv.  iii.  c.  22,  p.  294.  has  put  itie  Ibllowinjr  words  into  the 
king's  mouth.  ".Ic  ferci  voir  a  tout  le  nionde  qui;  je  n'ai  eslO  persuade 
jicr  autre  Theologio  lue  la  neccssii6  U'Estat>" 


A.  D.   1573. [       ABJURATION    OF    IIEXRY    IV.  307 

offered  to  Wilkes,  the  special  ambassador  from 
Elizabeth,*  without  adtiiitting  his  difficulties.  He 
had  already  postponed,  during  nearly  four  years, 
the  performance  of  the  promise  which  he  had  given 
at  his  accession,  and  both  parties  manifested  dis- 
trust on  account  of  this  long  indecision.  The 
Catholic  lords  in  his  service  began  to  oppose  the 
league  unsteadily  and  reluctantly  ;  and  many  of  the 
Reformed  altogether  withdrew.  Eight  hundred 
gentlemen  and  nine  whole  Huguenot  regiments  had 
abandoned  his  camp  ;  and  the  demands  of  ins  Roman- 
ist followers  increased  in  proportion  as  they  dis- 
covered his  weakness.  His  conversion,  he  said,  at 
one  blow  destroyed  the  Tiers  parti,  frustrated  the 
election  of  Guise,  secured  valualde  foreign  alliances, 
and  conciliated  the  general  aflections  of  his  subjects. 
So  discreetly  was  it  arranged  also,  that  by  avoiding 
an)'^  display  of  controversy,  he  spared  the  Hugue- 
nots the  mortification  of  being  dragged  into  a  con- 
test, in  which,  whatever  might  be  its  absolute  re- 
sult, it  was  necessary  that  their  defeat  should  be 
recorded.! 

Thus  much  ma3^  perhaps,  be  admitted  in  Henry's 
favour ;  but  we  pause  when  Sully  would  advance  a 
few  steps  further.  "  I  should  violate  truth,"  says 
that  acute  observer  of  Jniiiian  nature,  than  whom  no 
one  possessed  more  intimate  knowledge  of  Henry's 
disposition,  and  who,  at  this  season  especially,  be- 

*  ramdeni  Aiinales  ad  nnn.  1593.  p.  609.  A  very  impasslonpd  letter 
from  Elizabflh  is  ilirrc  giveri  in  Latin  p  GIO  ,  which  may  be  foiimj  in 
Frenrh  also  ammic  the  Coitoni.in  MSS.  (Titus  <;.  vii.  61).  It  has  bei-n 
jiriiited  by  Mr.  Turner,  Uht.  nf  Engl  Eliznbrfh,  vol.  iv.  p.  530.  wiih  a 
slight  error  (prohibly  of  the  pres«)  in  the  reference,  which  is  there  (jivcn 
101.  Bui  a  peculiarity  in  the  languaije  of  the  letter  appears  to  have  e.s- 
c.»ppfl  the  obxervaiion  of  even  that  most  iuHcfaiiijHble  wnier.  who  cites 
the  commencement  a?  follows.  "Ah  (juclles  ilonleurs  '  oh  i|Urlle  re- 
grete  !  oh  quel  genii.'^.'iement."  Ac  ;  whereas  the  worrtH.  as  they  really 
stand,  are  a  fiatnis.  "  Ah  quelles  douleurs  !  oh  quellii  re^retu  I  ohqiiula 
gemissemeiua  '"  But  the  Colionian  MS.  after  all  is  only  a  copy  by  an 
unknown  hand,  and  the  original  may  have  been  corrupted  by  a  negligent 
or  an  ignorant  writer. 

t  Camden,  \it  aup. 


308  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  [cH.  XVIII. 

lieved  that  he  had  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shal- 
lows of  his  master's  heart — "  if  I  were  to  leave  a 
suspicion  that  political  motives,  the  menaces  of  the 
Catholics,  a  weariness  of  trouble,  a  love  of  repose, 
the  strong  desire  of  emancipation  from  the  tyranny 
of  foreigners,  even  the  good  of  his  people,  laudable 
as  that  object  may  be  in  itself,  were  the  sole  rea- 
sons which  contributed  to  promote  the  king's  final 
decision.  So  far  as  I  am  permitted  to  judge  the 
secret  thoughts  of  a  prince  with  whom  no  one  was 
ever  so  well  acquainted  as  myself,  I  fully  believe 
that  these  motives  first  suggested  to  him  the  idea 
of  conversion  ;  and,  for  my  own  part,  I  confess 
that  I  did  not  seek  to  inspire  him  with  any  others  ; 
being  strongly  persuaded,  as  I  always  have  been 
(notwithstanding  I  am  a  Calvinist),  from  acknow- 
ledgments made  by  the  most  intelligent  Reformed 
ministers,  that  God  may  be  not  less  honoured  in 
the  Catholic,  than  he  is  in  the  Protestant  com- 
munion. But  1  think  the  king  brought  himself  in 
the  end  to  regard  the  Catholic  church  as  the  more 
certain  of  the  two.  The  candour  and  sincerity 
which  I  have  always  remarked  in  this  prince,  in- 
duce me  to  believe  that,  if  it  had  been  otherwise, 
he  would  have  dissembled  but  ill  during  the  remain- 
der of  his  life.'"* 

There  were,  indeed,  obvious  vices  in  the  charac- 
ter of  Henry,  well  inclining  him  to  adopt  a  creed 
which  holds  out  the  privilege  of  commutation  and 
compromise  for  lapses  from  purity  ;  which  pays  the 
debts  of  conscience  bj''  observances  which  mere 
human  authority  has  stamped  with  a  fictitious  value  ; 
and  which  allows  the  nice  adjustment  of  a  balance 
between  pleasure  and  penance.  But  it  may  be  rea- 
sonably doubted  whether  he  had  even  thus  far  re- 
flected upon  the  points  in  contest ;  whether  in  truth 
he  had  ever  considered  the  change  as  more  than  a 

*  Tom.  ii.  liv.  v.  p.  178. 


A.  D.   1593,]       ABJURATION  OF  HENRY  IV.  30J> 

form,  which,  according  to  an  observation  of  Sully 
in  another  place,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  should 
not  stop  him.*  His  own  declaration,  allliough  made 
in  jocular  terms,  was  perhaps  not  remote  from 
truth,  when  he  pronounced  the  question  what  reli- 
gion he  himself  really  believed,  to  be  one  of  three 
things  inscrutable  by  human  intelligence. f  The 
convert  who  unshrinkingly  encounters  peril,  or  even 
disadvantage,  by  the  adoption  of  new  opinions,  will 
obtain  a  ready  acknowledgment  of  his  sincerity  ; 
although  his  act  may,  perhaps,  be  imputed  to  eflfer-. 
vescent  feeling  rather  than  to  sound  discretion. 
But  the  chances  are  fearfully  against  a  belief  in 
real  conviction,  when  self-interest  and  conversion 
appear  linked  hand  in  hand  ;  when  the  act  of  renun- 
ciation tends  to  aggrandizement  in  wealth,  power, 
station,  or  inlluence.  The  current  value  of  motives 
varies  according  to  our  assurance  of  their  freedom 
from  alloy  ;  and  they  become  depreciated  in  the 
same  proportion  in  which  they  become  mixed. 

The  abjuration  of  Henry  will  produce  some  ne- 
cessary change  in  the  method  of  our  narrative, 
which  henceforward  ceases  to  be  identified  with  the 
main  History  of  France.  While  the  external  for- 
tunes of  the  Huguenot  church  were  influenced  b} 
the  same  hands  which  swayed  or  sought  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  kingdom,  few  events  in  politics  were 
likely  to  be  unconnected  with  religion ;  and  the 
annals  of  the  latter  half  of  the  XVIth  century  in 
France,  as  indeed  in  almost  every  other  part  of  Eu 
rope,  are  annals  of  the  Reformation.  But  as  spir- 
itual weapons  became  gradually  less  employed  for 
purposes  of  secular  ambition,  the  st(ir}'  of  tlie  clunch 
is  to  be  sought  within  its  own  more  quiet  and  con- 

•  Tom.  ii.  liv.  v.  p   174. 

t  The  two  oilier  qu(-«tion9  regarded  the  personal  cotirsse  of  Maurice, 
Prinie  of  Orange,  aiul  ihe  chastity  of  Queen  Kiizabcili.  Tinner,  iit  svp. 
p.  58S.  A.s  the  savin?  is  related  in  the  Journal  dc  Henri  IV  torn,  iii  p. 
86,  it  becomes  an  assertion  that  Le  Roy  de  France  est  furl  boa  Caiho- 
lique. 


310     FUTURE  COURSE  OF  THE  HISTORY.     [cH.  XVIII. 

tracted  pale.  The  incidents  which  it  hereafter  af- 
fords may  be  less  calculated  to  arouse  keen  excite- 
ment, but  they  may  not,  on  that  account,  be  less 
favourable  to  calm  reflection.  They  address  them- 
selves to  a  different,  but  by  no  means  to  an  inferior 
class  of  feelings  ;  as  they  are  more  equable  and  uni- 
form, they  may  be  dismissed  with  proportionably 
greater  rapidity,  but  to  readers  who  seek  acquaint- 
ance either  with  their  own  hearts,  or  with  those  of 
their  fellow-men,  they  remain  undiminished  in  in- 
terest and  in  importance. 


END    OF   VOL.    H. 


BW5830  .S63  1834  v.2 

History  of  the  reformed  religion  in 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


III 


1    1012  00037  7996 


